LNG

Laden LNG transits through the Strait of Hormuz have dropped sharply, down from roughly 0.8 cargoes per day in late June to just 0.2 cargoes per day by July 15, as shipowners grow increasingly cautious after the attack on QatarEnergy LNG carrier Al Rekayyat. Only one LNG cargo is known to have transited the Strait of Hormuz in the past week, according to S&P Global Energy’s vessel-tracking data, while a growing number of LNG stored aboard tankers waiting inside the Persian Gulf for safer passage.

The last LNG carrier, still holding the cargo it was carrying when March's closure of the Strait of Hormuz trapped it in the Persian Gulf, is preparing to leave the region, our data shows. The Patris, carrying a 0.07MMt cargo, had listed Himeji, Japan, as its destination in March – but now shows none, with the scheduled delivery likely cancelled or rescheduled.

Qatar Petroleum said it would now raise production capacity to 126 million tons per annum by 2027, an additional 16 MTPA from the previous expansion plan and a 64 percent increase on the current 77 MTPA of output at the Ras Laffan plant in the Gulf.