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Sources: Germany rejects arrival at Brunsbuttel of Russian LNG shipment

Sources in the industry said that Berlin has refused to allow an LNG shipment from Russia to be delivered to the Brunsbuttel Terminal in northern Germany, in accordance with its policy of not importing LNG from Russia.

The Financial Times reported on Thursday morning that Germany's Economy Ministry BMWK had ordered the Deutsche Energy Terminal to refuse any Russian LNG deliveries after the company had informed Berlin that it was planning to import a Russian cargo to its Brunsbuttel facility on Sunday.

The order was unclear. LSEG data shows that three LNG tankers left the Yamal facility in Russia recently and are awaiting orders.

An industry source said that the cargo was bound for Brunsbuttel, and someone wanted to see how Berlin would react. They also thought it might be a "political PR stunt".

Germany, Europe's biggest economy, and once Russia's top natural gas importer, has never imported Russian LNG directly and has stopped purchasing Russian pipeline gas after Moscow's invasion in Ukraine.

In order to replace Russian gas, it has relied upon LNG imported from the United States as well as other countries as well as pipeline gas from Norway.

BMWK spokeswoman: "Germany doesn't import Russian gas out of principle, and it's also clear that this cannot happen through German LNG terminals."

A spokesperson for the Ministry stated that in February, German companies who import LNG or transport it to Germany had committed to ensure that no Russian LNG is shipped to Germany when they purchase on the market.

An analysis of data conducted in April revealed that LNG has replaced more than 10% of the Russian Gas shipped via pipeline into the European Union, mostly in Spain, Belgium and France.

Germany does not directly import Russian gas. However, some Russian gas is still injected by other EU countries into the pipelines via Belgium's Zeebrugge terminal and other terminals.

According to the Federal Network Agency, 48.6% (48.6%) of Germany's gas imports last year came via pipelines from Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.

(source: Reuters)