European buyers paid roughly €7.88 billion for liquefied natural gas from Russia’s Arctic Yamal project in the first nine months of 2026, according to the campaign group Urgewald. Its analysis of data from the market intelligence firm Kpler shows EU ports received a record 12.18 million tonnes of Yamal LNG between January and September.
Deliveries from Yamal to Europe were up 9.5 per cent on the previous year, and EU ports took 85 per cent of the project’s recorded cargoes. France was the largest destination in September, taking nearly three-quarters of EU deliveries through its Dunkirk and Montoir terminals, a combined 0.572 million tonnes. The Netherlands received 0.146 million tonnes and Portugal 0.074 million tonnes, while Spain and Belgium’s Zeebrugge terminal recorded none.
The flows continue despite a step-by-step EU phase-out. New Russian energy contracts were banned from the start of 2026, and a ban on imports under short-term contracts took effect on 25 April. Even so, September deliveries reached 792,440 tonnes, slightly more than a year earlier. Sebastian Rötters of Urgewald said the short-term ban was always likely to have limited impact because most export capacity is tied to long-term contracts. The full ban covering eligible long-term contracts starts on 1 January 2027, which he described as the real test for Yamal.
Urgewald wants the EU’s next sanctions package, the 22nd, to close loopholes that support the Arc7 ice-class tankers carrying Arctic LNG, arguing that disrupting port and tanker logistics would strain Russia’s ability to keep exports moving. Such steps would need political coordination among member states and could complicate Europe’s gas purchasing ahead of winter, at a time when EU storage is at a record low. The data does not show how much of the trade could be redirected to other buyers or how European gas prices might react.
Washington could act first. Under the Lindsey Graham Act, the US can sanction Russian LNG deliveries to Europe before the EU ban applies, and the administration faces an 18 October deadline for its first review. “These ships will then be subject to sanctions,” Rötters said, unless the president issues waivers. Kpler figures show 706,473 tonnes of Russian LNG went to China, South Korea and Taiwan in September, while US measures have already sharply restricted the separate Arctic LNG 2 project.
