Russia’s Yamal LNG Sends First Cargo to China Since November as EU Demand Dominated Q1

Russia’s Yamal LNG project has dispatched its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to China since November, ship-tracking data showed on Tuesday, marking a tentative resumption of flows to Asia after European buyers absorbed all volumes in the first quarter of 2026.

The cargo, loaded via the Arc7 class tanker Vladimir Rusanov near Murmansk and transferred onto the LNG carrier Geneva, is expected to arrive in China in mid-May, according to LSEG data.

Yamal LNG, controlled by Russia’s largest LNG producer Novatek, has historically supplied Europe as its primary market. But shifting geopolitical dynamics and looming European restrictions are