Spain resumes Russian LNG purchases ahead of key deadline, new report reveals

Detailed summary

Spain imported 138,000 metric tonnes of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in October despite having phased out imports from Moscow in September, according to a Nov. 12 report by…

Spain imported 138,000 metric tonnes of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in October despite having phased out imports from Moscow in September, according to a Nov. 12 report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

The resumption of LNG supplies comes as EU imports of Russian LNG fell 10% month-on-month, and just ahead of a forthcoming ban on all Russian LNG entering the bloc from January 2027, reads the CREA report.

"Companies are acting in their own commercial interests and are likely maximizing Russian LNG imports under existing long-term contracts ahead of the full EU ban coming into force," Isaac Levi, an analyst with CREA, told the Kyiv Independent.

That effect has also been seen across EU imports through 2026 as a whole.

The bloc has imported a fifth more LNG from Russia's Arctic Yamal facility so far in 2026, than it did in the whole of 2025, according to data shared with the Kyiv Independent.

But those imports were stacked heavily towards the first half of 2026, and since then countries such as Belgium have eliminated Russian LNG from their supply chain.

The other top importer of Russian LNG is France, which has a contract already paid for, but which will come to an end with the EU ban entering into force.

But the top two importers of Russian fossil fuels as a whole in the EU remain Hungary and Slovakia, which are still connected to Russian pipelines.

The EU's ban on gas imports via pipeline is set to take effect from Nov. 1, 2027.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Kyiv Independent. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.