EU buying record Russian LNG volumes with total ban looming – FT 

The EU imported a record volume of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s flagship Yamal project in the first half of 2026, ahead of a planned ban on supplies from Russia, the Financial Times has reported. 

Brussels has promised to ban imports of Russian LNG under long-term contracts from January 1, 2027 which would eliminate supplies that currently account for around 14% of the bloc’s imports of the fuel. Purchases under new short-term contracts are already prohibited.

The bloc bought 9.89 million tons from Yamal LNG, operated by Russian energy giant Novatek, up 18% year-on-year and absorbing nearly all of the Arctic facility’s output, months before the EU import ban is due to take effect, the outlet said on Monday citing data from energy analytics firm Kpler.

The shipments were worth as much as €6 billion ($7 billion), according to estimates by German environmental group Urgewald. France was the largest buyer, importing 3.6 million tons from Yamal LNG in the first half of the year, followed by Belgium with 2.9 million tons and Spain with 2.7 million tons, data shows.

Meanwhile, Yamal LNG shipments to Asia dropped 74% year-on-year to just over 510,000 tons as Europe soaked up most of the project’s output.

The EU has faced soaring energy costs after scaling back imports of Russian energy following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict and pursuing an ambitious green transition. The situation has been exacerbated by the Middle East crisis, which disrupted LNG supplies from Qatar – the source of roughly a fifth of global exports. 

Europe’s summer heat wave is another factor contributing to surging energy prices, as France withdrew more than 200 million cubic meters of gas from its underground storage facilities in early July due to increased air conditioning demand. Nearly half of the gas being injected for the coming winter was immediately pumped back out, leaving refill rates at their lowest level on record for this time of year. Storage sites are typically filled during the summer to ensure stable heating supplies throughout the winter.

Having replaced much of its Russian gas with more expensive American LNG, the bloc has been particularly vulnerable to the resulting supply shock. Ivan Jimenez, the head of one of Europe’s largest LNG import hubs, the Port of Bilbao in Spain, urged Brussels last month to postpone its planned ban on Russian LNG, warning that the EU risks becoming overly dependent on US supplies.

He told the FT that while Russian gas imports should eventually be phased out, “you cannot do that from one day to another.”

The EU’s shift away from Russian energy has made the US its largest external gas supplier and has been hailed by Brussels as a step toward greater energy security. However, Washington has already begun leveraging its dominant position in Europe’s energy market. Last month, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned that American LNG exports would “flow somewhere else” if the EU refused to revise its planned methane emissions monitoring rules for imported gas, which are due to take effect in 2027.