LNG

Australian oil giant Santos is targeting a roughly US$27 billion capital spend for its integrated Papua LNG–PNG LNG expansion hub in Papua New Guinea, with up to three-fifths to be covered by debt finance.

Energy import-dependent Japan has again lowered LNG-burn for power generation to the lowest levels in a decade due to high fuel prices and robust recovery of nuclear baseload power. Japan’s nuclear reactors generated the highest electricity output since the 2011 Fukushima disaster while gas-fired generation fell 25% in the first half this year.

Pembina Pipeline Corp has signed a 12-year LNG offtake agreement with Ovintiv for 0.5 mtpa from the planned Cedar LNG project. The deal completes the remarketing of Pembina’s 1.5 mtpa of capacity at the floating LNG export terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia.

Intercontinental Exchange (IEC) is preparing to extend trading hours for European gas and power futures to match the 22-hour cycles of US and Asian markets. The move enables seamless LNG cross-basin trade and hedging between TTF, Henry Hub, and JKM benchmarks in aligned hours and US$ pricing.

Energy Aspects remains bearish against JKM–TTF Q1 26 spreads amid dwindling freight rates. Some recent fixtures for two-stroke LNG vessels in the Atlantic basin fell below $100,000 per day, opening the arbitrage for US LNG heading to markets east of Suez via the Cape of Good Hope.

Shizuoka Gas, a Japanese city gas utility, has signed a seven-year contract to import LNG starting April 2027 indexed at a 12% slope to Brent crude oil prices, traders told S&P Global Commodity Insights. Shizuoka is reportedly seeking to source five cargoes per year under the contract, concluded on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis.

Cosco Shipping is expanding its exposure on LNG-capable tonnage with an order for 87 new vessels from several yards affiliated with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). The order, valued at more than RMB 50 billion (about US$7 billion), covers container ships, bulk carriers, tankers and car carriers scheduled to be delivered through to 2030.

Turkey’s state energy company Botas has renewed its pipeline gas contract with Russia’s Gazprom, keeping volumes unchanged at 21.8 bcm/y. Analysts say this removes much of the upside risk to Turkey’s LNG demand in 2026.

US midstream company Energy Transfer is targeting financial close on its 16.5 mtpa Lake Charles LNG project in 2026, having secured sufficient offtake commitments to underpin project finance.

The US Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut has had little effect on oil and LNG prices as uncertainty about the macro-economic outlook stays high. “For commodity markets, the message is clear: monetary policy is no longer a dominant driver of price direction,” Rystad analysts commented.