LNG

Shipments from Canada’s LNG Canada plant surpassed 1 million metric tons in April, marking a new monthly record, according to LSEG data, as the $40‑billion facility is ramping toward its full design capacity. All cargoes set sail to Asia, mainly South Korea.

Japan’s largest LNG buyer JERA and its Korean counterpart KOGAS have agreed to deepen coordination in LNG operations by optimizing LNG shipping schedules and terminal utilization.

Fitch Rating reckons utilities in Asia Pacific can only a absorb a “short-lived fuel-supply disruption” linked to the Iran conflict. KEPCO and KOGAS rely heavily on imported LNG, so sustained shortages persist will weigh heavy on utilities balance sheets, analysts warn.

Trafigura has agreed to supply 1.5 mtpa of LNG to Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) over ten years, beginning in 2026. Deliveries will include cargoes sourced from Cheniere Energy.

T&T Group of Vietnam is tackling legal hurdles to get the Hai Lang LNG-to-power project built and commissioned by mid-2029. With revised capital costs of more than $2.3 billion, the project counts on backing from the Korean trio Hanwha Energy, KOGAS and KOSPO.

Executives of South Korea’s state-run utility KOGAS have visited Alaska as the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) targets to increase the share of LNG in the power gen mix from 16.9% currently to 18.8% by 2030. US LNG imports to Korea already more than doubled year-on-year amid an ongoing Free Trade Agreements renegotiation.

The largest South Korean power and natural gas companies with liquefied natural gas commitments including imports and purchases have seen their current debts staying at high levels because of last year’s higher commodity prices and increasing interest rates.

TC Energy Corp., whose main current project is the building of the Coastal GasLink pipeline for the LNG Canada venture, has agreed to sell 40 percent stakes for C$5.2 billion (US$3.9Bln) in the two US assets, Columbia Gas Transmission and Columbia Gulf Transmission, the transporters of substantial US LNG feed-gas volumes.

South Korea, the third-largest Asian liquefied natural gas importer, has announced increases in electricity and gas prices to offset the cost of power generation from imports like LNG.

Électricité de France, the French utility business known as EDF and a former large player in the LNG market before partially pooling its activities separately with Japan’s JERA Co. Inc., is now being overtaken by its financial difficulties amid concerns about future power shortages in the country.