LNG

Delivered LNG shipments to the European Union and the United Kingdom have rebounded to about 4% below pre-year levels, having increased since early August when imports were more than 30% below last year’s levels, ship-tracking data shows. LNG deliveries to Northeast Asia have fallen over the same period, highlighting a shift in Atlantic Basin cargoes toward northwest European markets.

Zodiac Maritime has entered the LNG carrier market by ordering two firm 174,000 cu m vessels, plus options for two more, from South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean in a deal valued at 680 billion won (about $500 million). Delivery of the vessels is scheduled for November 2029.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has launched new options on the Japan-Korea Marker (JKM) liquefied natural gas benchmark, LNG balance-of-month freight futures and UK base electricity options.

French major TotalEnergies on Monday confirmed its target to grow oil and gas production by around 3% a year through 2030, predominantly driven by LNG. Projects in Namibia, Nigeria, Libya, Malaysia, Mozambique and Papua New Guinea are meant to support the production plateau, while further growth of 2%-3% a year is planned between 2030 and 2035.

Golar LNG has announced it priced a $500 million private offering of unsecured senior notes due 2031 at 7.5% annual interest and 99% of par. Settlement is expected on October 8. The Bermuda‑based FLNG and shipping group will use most of the proceeds to refinance its existing debt.

TotalEnergies, SOCAR and Abu Dhabi’s XRG have taken a final investment decision on the full development of Azerbaijan’s offshore Absheron field, securing up to 6 bcm/y of new Caspian gas from 2029. The additional volumes, destined mostly for Turkey via the TANAP pipeline, will help Ankara reduce reliance on spot LNG.

Japan’s INPEX has exercised its pre‑emptive rights to buy JERA’s stake in the Ichthys LNG project in Australia, blocking JERA’s deal with MidOcean Energy to keep control of its flagship LNG asset.

The arbitrage for U.S. LNG cargoes is now favouring deliveries to Europe over northeast Asia, according to Spark Commodities, as shipping costs and regional price spreads render Atlantic-to-Pacific deliveries uneconomic for the remainder of 2026.

British energy major Shell and Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gas Company (NGC) have agreed commercial terms for gas supplies from Shell’s offshore Aphrodite field, ending a pricing dispute that had stalled the Trinidad LNG export project.

Luxembourg-based shortsea operator CLdN has ordered two LNG-fuelled RoRo vessels from the South Korean shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries, with delivery scheduled for mid‑2029.