In the midst of a global discussion on whether natural gas should be used as a transitional fuel and whether emissions from its extraction, production, transport and use are significantly less than those from other fossil fuels, Russia has developed ambitious plans to increase its own production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Arctic – a region with 75% of the country’s proven gas reserves – to raise its share in the international gas trade.

This working paper gives an overview of the Russian LNG sector with a focus on the current status and future projections of LNG production and use as ship fuel in the Russian Arctic. The influence of economic sanctions on Russian LNG development plans are also analyzed in the paper.