U.S. administration is working with its allies to persuade them to impose sanctions against Russia's new liquefied natural project Arctic LNG-2. The country has announced its own sanctions against it last week.
In early November, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, part of the Treasury Department, issued a general license that authorizes the wind down of transactions involving Arctic LNG-2, through Jan. 31, 2024.
The sanctions are not aimed at boosting LNG prices, the State Department spokesperson said as reported by Reuters: "We do not have a strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy, which would raise energy prices around the world."
Novatek, Russia's largest LNG producer, has a 60% stake in the LNG-2, and it plans to start production by the end of 2023. France and Japan are currently partners in this project.
Japan's Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said that some impact to his country's LNG businesses would be unavoidable due to newly-imposed sanctions. Japan will work with G7 countries to ensure a stable energy supply to Japan, he said.
The U.S. was the world's largest LNG exporter in the first six months of this year, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished
