LNG

The United States has offered up to $6 billion in potential financing for Argentina LNG, a proposed $51 billion integrated project led by state-controlled YPF to develop Vaca Muerta gas for export. The funding will be supplied under the Andes-Atlantic Corridor launched by the two countries on Wednesday.

Lithuania’s Ignitis has agreed to buy U.S.-linked LNG from EQT, under a sales and purchase agreement (SPA) covering 10 cargoes delivered each year between 2027 and 2036. The deal marks Ignitis first long-term SPA with a US company and introduces Henry Hub-linked pricing into its procurement portfolio.

Argentina’s state-controlled YPF, together with partners Eni and XRG, has submitted an application to enrol the Argentina LNG project in the country’s Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI). The $51 billion project will export liquefied natural gas from the Vaca Muerta shale formation, with operations targeted to begin in 2031.

The decade of structurally cheap US gas is drawing to a close, with Henry Hub prices forecast to rise towards $5 per MMBtu by 2035 from below $3 per MMBtu, as LNG demand growth tightens domestic balances, Wood Mackenzie said.

Designating the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and the Montney formation as “strategic national assets” would help reduce feedgas risk and uncertainty facing Canada’s LNG sector today, Ottawa-based Public Policy Forum said in a report on unlocking LNG export potential.

Shell has temporarily suspended its $3 billion share buyback programme, citing legal constraints linked to its pending acquisition of ARC Resources. The $16.4 billion deal would expand Shell’s position in the Montney Shale – a key source of feedgas supply for LNG Canada.

Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale is drawing investor interest to a 15-block licensing round for blocks suited for LNG feedgas development. The bidding round comes as LNG buyers reassess their portfolio exposure to supplies chains build around the Strait of Hormuz. Disruption or perceived risk to future LNG exports from Qatar and the UAE have increased interest in Atlantic Basin alternatives.

Fracking activity is ramping up across the U.S. as producers cater to booming LNG export demand and seek to pre-empt service price spikes. Early movers can reap superior margins.

Shale gas production in the US is projected to surge by up to 40% as American supply fills the gap caused by force majeure on Qatari LNG shipments. Analysts expect US LNG to double, exceeding 30 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) by 2050.

Fracking in the Permian Basin has staged a record 11% annual rise in gas production, adding 2.7 bcf/d to reach 27.7 bcf/d, suppored by break-even prices as low as $61 per barrel in the Midland Basin, one of the Permian's largest oil and associated gas formations.