Russian liquefied gas delivered to the United States despite sanctions
Despite the new sanctions against Russian energy companies, which the US Treasury announced on Friday, the first batch of Russian-made liquefied natural has been delivered to the United States this weekend.
As confirmed by Luke Pinneo, the representative of the US Coast Guard, the Gazelys tanker belonging to the French company Engie entered the territorial waters of the United States on Wednesday and is currently anchored in the Gulf of Massachusetts, the Voice of America reports.
"They plan to start unloading this weekend," he said, clarifying that the gas will be unloaded at Everett LNG terminal north of Boston.
The owner of the cargo is the French energy company Engie, whose representatives did not refute that the tanker’s cargo also includes liquefied gas produced by Yamal LNG, whose controlling stake belongs to Russian NOVATEK.
The Russian company has been on the sanctions lists of the US Treasury since 2014 and American citizens are forbidden to conduct any business with it. Nevertheless, the purchase of gas became possible because LNG was bought by Petronas LNG UK Limited and then sold to the French Engie.
The supply of liquefied gas to the US is caused by prolonged cold weather on the east coast of the US. Because of this, prices for liquefied natural gas have grown to $6,300 per 1000 cubic meters for the first time since 2014.
The American company Mystic Power Generation, which was a buyer of gas, said that before the conclusion of the transaction they held consultations with the US Treasury.
”We have communicated the fact that there is a mixture of gas aboard this cargo — we communicated that to a variety of authorities,” said Julie Vitek, representative of the company. “I don’t believe they’ve flagged the Russian gas as a concern.”
According to the Voice of America, the US Department of the Treasury declined to comment.