France has called for greater transparency on Russian LNG imports within the EU, encouraging the Commission to impose more stringent reporting obligations on Russian LNG entering the bloc, according to S&P Global.
Speaking at an EU energy ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Oct. 15, French energy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher noted France, along with nine other countries, would encourage the Commission to improve transparency surrounding Russian LNG imports.
"We believe it is needed to have the highest level of transparency regarding the flows of LNG, because we need to remove this dependency from Russian natural gas," Pannier-Runacher said. "This is good for Europe, and for our competitiveness."
The Oct. 15 meeting in Luxembourg forms part of a wider EU ministers' discussion on winter preparedness, security of supply, and the state of REPowerEU, following the recommendations of last month's report by Mario Draghi on European competitiveness.
"Member states have provided us additional input as to how we can continue our work to effectively and rapidly phase out remaining Russian fossil fuels," European commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said at a press conference after the meeting. "This includes more transparency on coordinating existing measures. It means we're continuing this work and it will be one of the priorities of my successor."
The EU formally adopted its 14th sanctions package against Russia in June, targeting the country's LNG sector for the first time.
Central to the package was a new ban on the transshipment of Russian LNG at EU ports for delivery to non-EU markets, which is set to take effect from the end of March 2025.
But the EU stopped short of imposing a blanket ban on Russian LNG imports despite a previous pledge to end all Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027.
To impose sanctions at the EU level, heads of state and government are required to agree.
As part of the EU's new gas decarbonization package, member states are, however, given the right to restrict access to Russian gas and LNG at the national level.
The European Commission has been tasked with monitoring the share of Russian LNG imports in the total energy imports of the EU following the imposition of the June sanctions.
It is to report to the EU Council in the event of any important developments linked to the sanctions by June 2025.
A ban on transshipments is expected to see more Russian LNG remain in Europe at the expense of Asia.
This comes as spot LNG prices for delivery into Northwest Europe inch higher, with Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessing the LNG DES Northwest European Marker for November at $12.704/MMBtu on Oct. 14, up by 1.77% on the day.
European ports such as Zeebrugge are used to reload Russian LNG carried by specialist ice-breaker ships from the Yamal LNG project onto conventional LNG ships for re-export to markets such as Asia.
Sanctions against transshipment would mean any Asia-bound cargoes sent westward might have to be carried all the way by the ice-breaking ships, meaning a much longer voyage.
Russia has exported a total of 13.16 million mt to Europe as of Oct. 15. It exported some 15.37 million mt to Europe in 2023, data from Commodity Insights showed.