GreenergyDaily

Aug. 29, 2025

A Chinese state-run terminal appeared to take delivery of some liquefied natural gas from a US-sanctioned Russian facility, according to shiptracking data, which would mark the first such trade as Moscow tries to maintain its energy exports.

The Arctic Mulan vessel left the Beihai LNG terminal on Friday, a day after docking there. The ship’s draft was at 8.7 meters as it departed, down from 9.8 meters previously, indicating it discharged some of the cargo it was carrying from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 export plant, the data shows. A trader familiar with the Chinese terminal also confirmed that LNG was discharged from the vessel.

It would be the first successful delivery by Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, which has faced issues in finding buyers after it was blacklisted by US President Joe Biden’s administration in late 2023. Moreover, state-owned Chinese firms have been reluctant to accept fuel from sanctioned vessels or facilities, making this LNG delivery all the more rare.

Arctic Mulan loaded an LNG shipment from a floating storage unit in eastern Russia in early June, according to ship-tracking data. The fuel in storage was sourced from the Arctic LNG 2 facility, which ramped up gas production to record levels this month.

Arctic Mulan’s arrival came just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to arrive in Beijing this Sunday.

China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a daily press briefing on Friday that he wasn’t aware of the situation.