LNG

Delivered LNG shipments to the European Union and the United Kingdom have rebounded to about 4% below pre-year levels, having increased since early August when imports were more than 30% below last year’s levels, ship-tracking data shows. LNG deliveries to Northeast Asia have fallen over the same period, highlighting a shift in Atlantic Basin cargoes toward northwest European markets.

Global LNG demand could reach nearly 700 million tonnes a year by 2050, a 65% increase from 2025-levels, Shell forecasts, assuming shipping through the Strait of Hormuz returns to normal this summer, before growth resumes in 2027.

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.