/Agencia Reuters
China is preparing a second import terminal to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from the sanctioned Russian Arctic LNG 2 project, thus expanding a route that until now has depended on a single facility, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The newly built Longkou LNG terminal in Shandong province, eastern China, is operated by state-owned pipeline giant PipeChina and is being equipped to receive Arctic LNG 2 cargoes, according to what the sources told Reuters.
The move would provide a lifeline to the $21 billion project, which is under severe sanctions, and to Moscow, whose gas exports have been affected by Europe’s decision to suspend purchases and whose oil sector faces pressure from Ukrainian attacks.
A second import terminal would allow China to receive larger volumes of sanctioned Russian LNG, while giving Arctic LNG 2, designed to produce 19.8 million metric tons per year, another export route.
China, the only known buyer of sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 cargoes, has so far received shipments through PipeChina’s Beihai terminal in Guangxi. That facility received the project’s first delivery to a buyer in August 2025 aboard the tanker Arctic Mulan.
Since then, Beihai has received 41 cargoes, or 2.6 million tons, of LNG from Arctic LNG 2, many of them via two floating storage units in Russia, according to ship tracking data and Kpler estimates. It has also received three LNG cargoes from the sanctioned Russian Portovaya terminal.
China needs an additional terminal to absorb more sanctioned cargoes, one of the sources said. All of them requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The Asian nation, the world’s largest LNG importer, bought 7.57 million tons from Russia last year, according to Chinese customs data.
Longkou is seen as a logical option because, like Beihai, it is operated by PipeChina and is closer to the Koryak floating storage unit in the Russian Far East, where Arctic LNG 2 cargoes are stored and reloaded, the sources explained.
An industry executive noted that Longkou has completed its mechanical construction phase and should be ready before October, in time for peak winter demand.
Under its completed first phase, the Longkou terminal in the coastal city of Yantai has an annual receiving capacity of 5 million tons, compared to Beihai’s 6 million tons.
PipeChina’s Dalian LNG terminal in northeastern China is also being evaluated as a possible future receiving point, according to a fourth source.
Separately, an independent source noted that Novatek has recently stepped up hiring in China.
Reuters reported last year that Novatek has cut cargo prices by between 30% and 40% since August 2025 to attract Chinese buyers despite the sanctions.
