Moscow's ambitious plans have been delayed by several years due to international sanctions.
“Our task has been to reach 100 million tons” per year of LNG output. “Clearly, due to sanctions restrictions, there will be a delay of some years” in achieving this target, said Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak in an interview with a state TV channel, without providing a deadline.
Russia had aimed to reach this production level by 2030, but Western sanctions targeting LNG projects and fleets supplying cryogenic fuel have hindered progress.
The United States has blacklisted all current and future Russian LNG projects, except for Novatek’s Yamal LNG project, and has imposed sanctions on the vessels transporting fuel abroad.
In response, Russia has increased LNG deliveries to China at preferential prices, a market that does not recognize Western sanctions. In early September, Novatek shipped the first batch from the sanctioned Arctic LNG-2 project to China.By November, Russia had surpassed Australia to become China’s largest LNG supplier.
Overall, Russia produced nearly 30 million tons of LNG in the first 11 months of 2025.