According to persons familiar with the situation, Russia is attempting to use a worldwide natural gas supply constraint to entice energy-starved South Asia into purchasing supplies from its US-sanctioned facilities.
The supplies were offered at a 40% discount to spot pricing last week through little-known intermediary companies based in China and Russia, according to the persons, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorised to speak with the media. The vendors suggested they could supply papers to make it look that the shipments came from non-Russian sources such as Oman or Nigeria, according to the people.

Bloomberg News was unable to establish if any of the shipments were purchased.
The effective closing of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as strikes on Qatar's largest LNG export plant, have reduced global supplies by approximately a fifth, upending the gas market and raising prices. Shipments from Qatar have stalled, prompting clients in Bangladesh and India to seek more expensive alternatives.
Bangladesh, which received 60% of its LNG from Qatar last year, has resorted to purchasing supplies on the spot market, often spending about double what it would have under its long-term contracts with the Middle Eastern country.

India traditionally takes a conservative approach to purchasing sanctioned oil and gas, and the government has already stated that it will not accept Russian LNG from blacklisted projects. India purchased its first Iranian oil cargo since 2019, following a US Treasury general licence issued last month that lifted sanctions.
While Russia has progressively increased exports from its US-sanctioned export plants, Arctic LNG 2 and Portovaya, most purchasers are still reluctant of accepting restricted supplies for fear of punishment from Washington. So far, China has been the only country to import sanctioned Russian LNG through a network of shadow fleet vessels.

Expanding deliveries to countries outside of China would help Russia diversify its customer base and expand exports from its blacklisted facilities. Arctic LNG 2, which was intended to be Russia's largest LNG plant, began exports in 2024, but its full capacity has been hampered by a shortage of shipping capacity and interested clients.