LNG

China’s state-owned oil and gas company CNOOC sees potential for an energy cooperation with the US, and would consider investing alongside US partners in future projects, a senior executive said, as signs of a thaw in trade relations emerge.

Poland’s ORLEN and Ukraine’s Naftogaz Group have agreed to deepen their LNG cooperation by jointly using regasification terminals and transmission infrastructure across the Baltic and Eastern Europe, which would include Poland’s Świnoujście terminal as part of the wider logistics chain.

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Southeast Asian nations have agreed deepen cooperation in renewable energy, natural gas and LNG, though fell short on specifying binding targets or projects. Analysts say ASEAN’s emphasis on LNG reflects both immediate energy security concerns and longer-term transition strategies.  Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, are increasing LNG import capacity to offset declining domestic gas production, reduce reliance on coal while transitioning to a lower-carbon energy system.

Turkey’s state-owned pipeline operator BOTAS and the Italian energy company Edison have agreed to work together on LNG trade and swap operations, while evaluating a new gas pipeline across the Mediterranean between Turkey and Italy.

South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party today announced the abolition of spring caps limiting coal-fired plants to 80% capacity, alongside boosting nuclear utilization to over 80% from late-60s levels. “We aim to lift coal power caps to ease reliance on LNG for electricity generation,” an official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said, pointing at government strategy to stabilize baseload power.

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.

Gazprom’s latest cooperation push with CNPC is accelerating the ramp-up of Russian pipeline gas exports to China, capping the country’s LNG demand. Gazprom aims to increase exports via additional pipeline routes such as the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline.

Iberdrola, Spain's No. 2 energy company and one of Europe’s biggest LNG buyers, said it has agreed to buy Scottish Power of the UK in a deal worth 17.2 billion euros ($22.6Bln) to spread its customer reach in the Atlantic Basin.

Excelerate Energy, the US market leader in using specially adapted LNG carriers as import terminals, has chosen RWE, Germany's second-largest power company, to market the LNG Excelerate plans to import into the UK from January.