LNG

Sept 25 – Ship transits through the Strait of Hormuz has reached a new low, falling to 9 on Thursday compared with 14 on the previous day, according to ship tracking data. Of the 9 vessels tracked just 8 managed to exit the waterway, though some might have sailed through unnoticed with their AIS transporter turned off.

The arbitrage for U.S. LNG cargoes is now favouring deliveries to Europe over northeast Asia, according to Spark Commodities, as shipping costs and regional price spreads render Atlantic-to-Pacific deliveries uneconomic for the remainder of 2026.

British energy major Shell and Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gas Company (NGC) have agreed commercial terms for gas supplies from Shell’s offshore Aphrodite field, ending a pricing dispute that had stalled the Trinidad LNG export project.

Luxembourg-based shortsea operator CLdN has ordered two LNG-fuelled RoRo vessels from the South Korean shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries, with delivery scheduled for mid‑2029.

The United States and China have extended a bilateral trade truce – the so-called Busan Agreement – until January 10. The accord reduces the risk of renewed tariff escalation between the world’s two largest economies, but does not include a commitment that China will buy US 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.

The Port of Corpus Christi has received approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on September 23 for its requested offshore discharge permit – the final permit needed for the proposed desalination plant. By securing a dedicated seawater supply via the projected desalination plant, the LNG developers can argue that additional capacity will have lower freshwater impacts, potentially smoothing future permitting for Stage III expansions or brownfield debottlenecks.

Glenfarne Group’s Magnolia LNG has been granted a five-year extension from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to complete construction and place its planned 8.8 mtpa export plant in Louisiana into service, pushing the in-service deadline to November 2029 – even as project still lacks a final investment decision and financing.

European gas buyers are starting to outbid Asia for LNG cargoes to refill storage ahead of winter, marking a decisive shift in the global gas arbitrage, said Menelaos Ydreos, secretary general of the International Gas Union (IGU).

TotalEnergies and its Nigerian partner AMNI have taken a final investment decision (FID) to develop the Ima gas field, set to supply about a third of the gas needed for the $10 billion Train 7 project.