European Commission plans to stop purchasing Russian LNG by end of 2026 - media

The European Commission intends to give up purchasing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia by the end of 2026, which is a year earlier than previously planned, Politico reported on Tuesday, as per Interfax.

"At the heart of the proposal is the Commission's decision to ditch Russian LNG a year earlier than initially planned, imposing an earlier deadline of the end of 2026 for long-term contracts, while giving six months after the package's entry into force for short-term deals," Politico said, citing a draft of measures as part of the EU's 19th sanctions package.

The goal of the ban on Russian LNG is to further weaken Russia's profits from fossil fuel exports, Politico said.

The draft also provides, in particular, for bans on EU companies investing in Russian economic zones and conducting transactions in cryptocurrency, as well as restrictions on 12 Chinese, two Thai, and three Indian firms that according to European officials are helping Russia circumvent sanctions.

Previously, the European Commission said that it expects to gradually and effectively stop all imports of Russian gas into the EU by the end of 2027.

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Ownership of an 11.3% stake in Serbian oil company NIS has passed from PJSC Gazprom to JSC Intelligence, NIS reported, as per Interfax.

Intelligence is managed by Gazprom Capital LLC, which, among other things, holds the Gazprom Group's financial investments.

The stake changed hands on September 19 "based on a contract on the cession/transfer of shares in the joint-stock company without compensation," NIS said. PJSC Gazprom retains ownership of one share in NIS.

Gazprom and Gazprom Neft , the group's oil company, are not commenting on this information.

NIS is the only company in Serbia that explores for and produces hydrocarbons. The company has a large oil refinery in Pancevo and dominates Serbia's oil product market. NIS also has a chain of more than 400 filling stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Romania.

Gazprom Neft owns 44.85% of the Serbian company, Serbia owns 29.87%, and the remaining shares are held by minority shareholders.

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Hungary has no intention to stop buying Russian oil, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said, as per Interfax.

"For us, energy supplies are a purely physical question. It can be nice to dream about buying oil and gas from somewhere. We can't ensure the safe supply of energy products for our country without Russian oil or gas sources," the Guardian quoted Szijjarto as saying on Tuesday.

"We can only buy from where we have infrastructure. And if you look at the physical infrastructure, it's obvious that without the Russian supplies, it is impossible to ensure the safe supply of the country," he said.

Szijjarto made the statement after U.S. President Donald Trump urged all NATO members to stop buying Russian oil.

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The Russian government is discussing extending the ban on gasoline exports for producers, which is in effect in September, to also include October, as well as the possibility of introducing a ban on diesel fuel exports, sources familiar with the discussion told Interfax.

The extension of the ban on gasoline exports for producers is highly likely, one source said.

Several sources in oil companies said that there is no need for a ban on diesel fuel exports, as there is currently enough of it on the market.

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Russian gas giant Gazprom is expanding underground gas storage capacity in Saratov Region to support exports to Uzbekistan, company deputy department head Sergei Khan said, as per Interfax.

"The Stepnovskoye storage facility is now developing. Instead of 68 million cubic meters per day of capacity, up to 80 mcm of daily capacity will be put into operation, and feeding of gas will be secured from this storage facility to the new export route through Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan," Khan was reported as saying by gas industry journal Gazovaya Promyshlennost.

He said every underground storage facility is a very complex geological site. "We've learned how to operate a gas storage facility even with an active water pressure regime. The Stepanovskoye storage facility has four geological reservoirs connected into two storage facilities, with crossflow between them and an active water pressure regime in one of the reservoirs," Khan said.

The Stepanovskoye underground gas storage facility, which opened in 1973, was built in the porous formations of the Vorobyov and Ardatov horizons of the depleted Stepanovskoye oil and gas condensate field. It can store 4.668 billion cubic meters of active gas and is used to even out seasonal fluctuations in gas consumption and peak loads in Saratov Region and the Ural-Volga region, as well as to maintain an operating pressure in the Central Asia-Center trunk gas pipeline.

Gazprom began exporting gas to Uzbekistan in October 2023 with the reversal of shipments through the Central Asia-Center pipeline system. Exports grew to 5.64 bcm in 2024 from 1.28 bcm in 2023.

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