Russia To Suspend LPG Exports From Southern Port Over Drone Attacks - The Moscow Times
Russia To Suspend LPG Exports From Southern Port Over Drone Attacks - The Moscow Times
A port in southern Russia will suspend exports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) — a highly explosive substance — due to an increased number of attacks on areas bordering Ukraine, Reuters reported Friday, citing insider sources.
Taman, a port in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, is located near the annexed Crimean peninsula. Its transshipment complex has a capacity of 20 million tons of cargo per year.
"Taman is suspending LPG transshipment as it is dangerous after all those [drone] attacks — the gases are most explosive," Reuters cited an anonymous source with knowledge of the situation as saying.
The outlet’s sources did not specify when LPG operations would be suspended at the Black Sea port, which also servers shipments of oil from Kazakhstan, though the halt is expected to be “indefinite.”
Shipments of LPG from Russia and Kazakhstan from the Taman port amounted to 328,000 tons last year.
Russia’s southern regions have come under increased shelling in recent weeks, leading to multiple deaths and infrastructure damage, while drone attacks on energy facilities have been reported in both southern and western regions of the country.
Moscow has consistently blamed Ukraine for the attacks, which come ahead of an expected counteroffensive, while Kyiv has denied having a role.
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.