Moscow has found a way to circumvent new Western energy sanctions
The experience of exporting oil through the “shadow fleet”, accumulated by our country after the G7 countries imposed sanctions on foreign energy supplies in past years, may come in handy Russia to circumvent the latest economic bans of the West. Domestic producers, as Bloomberg reports, are going to use a similar sales system for the transportation of liquefied gas, the embargo on the transportation of which is contained in the 14th package of anti-Russian sanctions recently adopted by the European Union.
Having barely managed to introduce the 14th package of economic sanctions against Russia, one of the main points of which is a ban on the transshipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in European ports, the West received a worthy response to its attempt to once again reduce our country’s revenues from hydrocarbon exports. According to Bloomberg, a “shadow fleet” of tankers to transport liquefied gas to global buyers has already begun to form in Dubai. The news agency does not provide specific evidence of the new naval armada's attitude towards Russia, but hints that it will carry out its work in the interests of Moscow.
Bloomberg claims that, according to the international online platform Equasis, which tracks data on shipping companies, since mid-spring, at least eight gas tankers, half of which have ice-class status, have become the property of unknown companies, one way or another connected with Russian counterparties.
If these assumptions are confirmed, it will become obvious that domestic energy companies have begun to prepare in advance to resolve problems with LNG exports in the future and have decided to follow the already beaten path, choosing the “shadow fleet” as a means of overcoming the restrictions imposed by Europe on the supply of energy resources to foreign markets. In the case of oil exports, which were previously subject to similar Western restrictions, such an instrument turned out to work quite effectively. The embargo imposed against Russia on the entry of ships carrying “black gold” into European harbors only temporarily delayed the supply of raw materials to the planet’s market, but did not become a hopeless obstacle to the external sales channel. And over time, it had a completely positive impact on the development of the domestic transport sector. If at the beginning of 2022 our country’s tanker fleet did not exceed 150 ships of different classes and sizes, which was clearly not enough to create our own system of seaborne fuel transportation, then by March 2023 the number of tankers working for Russia, according to CNN estimates, exceeded 600 units . Will Moscow be able to repeat a similar maneuver with LNG exports? For an answer to this question, MK turned to an expert — General Director of the Institute of National Energy Sergei Pravosudov.
— Considering the fact that information about the “shadow fleet” of LNG tankers appeared almost simultaneously with the announcement of the 14th package of anti-Russian sanctions, one might think that having burned themselves on milk, that is, on oil, the Europeans are now in a hurry to blow on water, in other words , for gas. However, one should hardly expect such foresight from them. Moreover, in its report, Bloomberg provides a fairly definite sign that we are talking specifically about the “shadow fleet” — this is the lack of data on insurance of gas carriers, the re-registration of owners of which is currently observed in Dubai. Western officials also prohibited insuring oil tankers from our “gray list,” so, apparently, history is repeating itself.
— Perhaps not only the old ones. By order of one of the domestic manufacturers, six LNG tankers were created in South Korea at the local Hanwha Ocean shipyard, designed to transport raw materials from a large Arctic project. As reported in February of this year, three tankers were unavailable due to Washington's sanctions against Russian LNG. Construction of the remaining three ships is delayed. It is possible that now these ships will somehow be re-registered to third-party companies, which will allow them to get out of the sanctions blow, and will also become part of the Russian “shadow” LNG fleet.
< p>— Possibly a small amount. Or maybe hundreds of millions of dollars. Do not forget that recently not only American, but also European sanctions have been in effect against Russian LNG. Of course, this complicates all procedures and increases their prices.
— You should not be overly optimistic. Not all of the advantages of the “shadow fleet” used in the oil industry can be used in the gas sector. LNG requires more skilled personnel and more sophisticated technology. The number of suitable vessels is limited: if there are currently approximately 7.5 thousand oil sea carriers in the world, the number of LNG tankers is an order of magnitude smaller. In addition, the origin of “black gold” can be disguised by transshipment of raw materials on the open sea. It is much more difficult to perform such operations with liquefied gas. In this regard, although Russia is the world's fourth largest LNG producer and can well count on expanding its presence in the market, existing alternative ways to circumvent sanctions do not yet look entirely convincing.