EU Russian LNG Bill Reaches $9.6 Billion Before 2027 Ban

The European Union paid an estimated $9.6 billion for Russian liquefied natural gas from January through October, already about 21% more than the estimated bill for all of 2025, campaign group Urgewald said Thursday, citing vessel-tracking data. A full EU ban on Russian LNG imports is due to take effect on January 1, 2027.

Money Talk·November 12, 2026·reads: 2,494

EU Russian LNG Bill Reaches $9.6 Billion Before 2027 Ban

Urgewald’s estimate, based on data from Kpler, covers imports from Russia’s Yamal LNG project. The campaign group’s figures were reported by TradeWinds. The EU has about 50 days until the ban begins, according to the source report.

Higher LNG prices have increased the cost to European buyers this year. The source article linked the price rise to the Iran war and the blocked Strait of Hormuz, which cut off a large part of Qatar’s LNG supply and sent benchmark prices higher in Europe and Asia.

Russia’s LNG export revenue from cargoes unloaded in October rose 3% from the previous month to $85 million (77 million euros) per day, even as volumes fell 4%, according to a monthly analysis published Thursday by the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Loaded Russian LNG volumes, by contrast, increased 5% month on month. Loadings from Yamal LNG rose 17% and from the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project climbed 20%, more than offsetting a 13% drop at Kamchatka and the halt in loadings at Portovaya and Murmansk, CREA analysts said.

The EU was the largest buyer of Russian LNG in October, taking 47% of total exports, the analysis found. China accounted for 26%, Japan 18% and South Korea 6%.