France’s Russian LNG imports hit a record in 2024

France’s LNG imports from Russia hit a new record in 2024 with deliveries exceeding any prior annual tallies since shipments began in 2018, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg finds. Several EU member states, including France, are stressing the need for better tracking of Russian LNG imports. Private firms are importing the fuel, meaning it’s “neither the states, nor the European Union that makes such decisions,” a French Energy Ministry spokesperson told Bloomberg. European firms are locked into long-term contracts with Russia’s Arctic Yamal LNG plant, including France’s Total Energies, Spain’s Naturgy Energy Group and Germany’s Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE) GmbH.

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Looking forward: The EU will implement a ban on transshipments of Russian LNG cargoes in EU ports starting March 2025. This is forecasted to expand the volume of Russian LNG kept within Europe. EU-Permitted Russian LNG shipments have been regularly transferred between tankers in Belgian, French, and Spanish ports, before being transported to buyers in other countries like China, Japan, and Bangladesh.