UK Halts Russian LNG Imports from Jan. 1

UK’s Commonwealth and Development Office has announced to halt imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia from January 1.

"The UK has ended all imports of Russian Liquefied Natural Gas," the Office said.

Handelsblatt newspaper wrote in early December, citing data, that the West has significantly increased Russian LNG imports since the beginning of 2022.

The paper pointed out that while the Europen Union strengthens the imposed oil embargo, LNG imports are reaching a new high, and EU countries, including the UK, bought nearly 21% more LNG from Russia than in 2021, and this volume continues to grow.

Milliyet newspaper wrote, quoting a statement by the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, that the LNG market is going through a difficult period in 2023 due to the worsening energy crisis.

The UK imported 3.12 billion cubic meters of Russian gas or 4% of the total consumption of this type of fuel last year. Russian gas imports fell dramatically after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.

The UK consumes about 75 billion cubic meters of gas in average per year.