LNG

European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said he has asked his team to examine a one-year delay to methane requirements for imported oil, pipeline gas and LNG. The proposed change would move the start of the EU Methane Regulation’s import provisions from January 1, 2027 to the beginning of 2028.

Rising LNG prices risk destroying demand as markets are extremely tight, with EU gas storage at multi-year lows. If spot prices rise further this winter, they could erode long-term demand and trigger a 'bloodbath' in global market, Petronas CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik warns.

Venture Global is in preliminary discussions to sell additional US LNG volumes of LNG to Chinese buyers. For PetroChina, the potential supply would total more than 1 mtpa, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Plans to develop several LNG-fuelled power stations in Vietnam are facing delay, mostly due to affordability issues. Developers are also struggling with power-purchase agreement negotiations, land-clearance procedures and the high and volatile cost of imported LNG. Of 18 LNG power projects under government monitoring, only the Hiep Phuoc project is currently considered on track, while just two have begun construction.

Turkey’s state pipeline operator BOTAS has launched a tender for a 940-day charter of one LNG carrier. Deadline for submitting bids is October 15, at 15:00 local times.

Shell has awarded OceanMight an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for structures linked to gas field off Sarawak with a view to sourcing new feedgas for Malaysia’s existing processing and LNG infrastructure.

Baker Hughes has teamed up with Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, engineering firm Lindsayca and LNG developer Fulcrum LNG to revitalise and expand the country’s natural gas infrastructure and set up a pathway to LNG exports.

British gas company Centrica has tentatively agreed to buy 1 mtpa of LNG from Canada’s Ksi Lisims LNG export project, strengthening the developer’s progress toward securing firm offtake and taking a final investment decision. The non-binding Heads of Agreement (HoA) is for 20 years of supply on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

Glenfarne, lead developer of the Alaska LNG project, claims that liquefying Alaska’s North Slope gas and shipping it to Asia would be at least 65% cheaper than shipping LNG from the US Gulf Coast. Brushing aside criticism over the project’s high cost, Glenfarne told Reuters that the Alaska LNG project itself entails some $1.4 billion per mtpa in delivery costs.

Chevron is expanding its LNG portfolio through long-term offtake agreements rather than committing billions of dollars to develop new liquefaction plants – a strategy aimed at lifting tradable LNG volumes to more than 20 mtpa by 2030.