LNG

Caturus, a Houston-based independent gas company, has secured $9.75 billion in project finance-style debt for its Commonwealth LNG, with total equity and debt commitments reaching $21.25 billion.

Investors are seeking better incentives for integrated LNG and power projects in Vietnam as guaranteed electricity offtake levels are still too low to make projects break even. Developers said Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with 25-year tenures or a higher minimum offtake level, ideally 85-90%, would help secure predictable cash flows and attract international lenders.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan has expressed reluctance to spend the company’s own equity on US LNG projects, citing the availability of low-cost infrastructure funding. His remark signals a shift towards prioritising shareholder returns over equity commitment in an increasingly oversupplied global LNG market.

Energy World Corporation (EWC) has strengthened its balance sheet by converting $434 million of debt into equity, erasing the group’s external debt to advance its 3 mtpa Pagbilao LNG regas terminal and integrated power project.

Across Southeast Asia, burning coal for power generation is rising faster than anywhere in the world – except for Bangladesh which is on course to overtake Pakistan as an LNG importer by 2035. The pivot to coal threatens to undermine Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) in Indonesia and Vietnam, not least because clean energy finance is hard to come by.

Kimmeridge-owned Commonwealth LNG has entered a long-term deal to supply 1 mtpa to Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil exporter, sources told Reuters. This latest SPA brings Kimmeridge one step closer to achieving 8 mtpa of upfront-contracted LNG sales, out of the terminal’s total nameplate capacity of 9.5 mtpa.

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.

Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher has indicated a “significant” part of the multi-billion Papua LNG development will be funded by project financing, backed by the strong performance of the nearby PNG LNG project, whose debt was repaid six months ahead of schedule.

Pakistan is preparing to sell excess LNG, imported from Qatargas and Eni, starting from January 1, 2026, after lower gas-burn for power generation created a surplus, petroleum minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said. The Government  initially tried to divert imported LNG to domestic customers, but this move increased circular debt in the gas sector and caused loses of around Rs1,000 billion (US$3.55 million) since 2018-19.

Equity investors in US LNG projects are vary of margins squeezed by higher US gas prices vs lower global spot prices. Debt finance is still forthcoming supported by the Trump administrations overtly pro-gas policies, Wood Mackenzie finds.