Two Indian shipping companies are put on the US sanctions list due to liquefied natural gas

According to news on September 6, the United States has increased sanctions to obstruct Russia's export of liquefied natural gas. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department announced that the two liquefied gas carriers "Mulan" and "NewEnergy" were put on the sanctions list. At the same time, the two shipping companies "Gotik Shipping" and "Plio Energy Cargo Shipping" headquartered in India were also sanctioned as related companies.

Reports said that by the end of August, the United States had put a total of seven other vessels on this sanctions list. The US government claims that these companies and ships are associated with Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project. The US had previously announced sanctions on this project, and this move is an escalation of relevant sanctions.

The Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia is controlled by Novatek, Russia's largest liquefied natural gas producer. It is a key project for Russia to expand its share of liquefied natural gas in the global market. Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the US State Department, said in a statement, "In response to Russia's operation of the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project or any attempt to expand Russia's energy capacity in other ways, the US government will continue to respond quickly... The United States will work with G7 partner countries and other allies to firmly combat Russia's use of its energy resources for political gain."

Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, although India has been under pressure from the United States, it has not stopped energy transactions with Russia. This may be one of the reasons for the US sanctions this time. And India, as a quasi-ally of the United States, has an important position in the so-called "Indo-Pacific strategy". The United States also has concerns when imposing sanctions. This sanctions incident has once again made US-India relations and Russia's energy export issues the focus of international attention. The follow-up development trend remains to be further observed.