Russia pays high price for LNG export prize
How will the world’s largest gas exporter diversify away from pipeline supplies? Tatiana Mitrova, of the Skolkovo Business School’s Energy Centre, considers the options
Stagnating gas demand in Europe, Russia’s main export market, means the world’s largest gas exporter is coming under growing pressure to diversify its export routes. Whatever the appeal of liquefied natural gas (LNG) though, diversifying will not be easy. Russia’s location and climate do not offer the most favourable conditions for the development of an LNG business. Despite having an extensive coastline, Russia has just a few outlets to ice-free waters: in the Barents Sea, in the northwest, and in the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan, in the southeast. The extreme climate means Russian LNG projects must overcome a raft of complex technical problems. And these problems make projects very expensive.
Also in this section
5 March 2026
Gas is a central pillar of Colombia’s energy system, but declining production poses a significant challenge, and LNG will be increasingly needed as a stopgap. A recent major offshore gas discovery offers hope, but policy improvements are also required, Camilo Morales, secretary general of Naturgas, the Colombian gas association, tells Petroleum Economist
4 March 2026
The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
