LNG

Tanzania is working towards signing a $42 billion LNG project agreement before June, with first production envisaged in eight years, Planning and Investment Minister Aida Mkumbo said during a London briefing. The project targets 47 Tcf of offshore reserves in Blocks 1, 2, and 4 off Lindi in southern Tanzania, with a view to developing a 10 mtpa LNG export terminal.

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.

As of January 25, the ‘monster winter storm’ Fern has severely impacted feedgas supply for US LNG exports, with restrictions on the Creole Trail pipeline reducing flows to Sabine Pass terminal. Freeport LNG might also go offline as ice is accumulating along its feedgas corridor. 

EU member states spent more than €7.2 billion ($8.4 billion) on Yamal LNG last year – despite a full ban on LNG imports coming into force on January 1, 2027.  “Russia has no adequate alternative to the EU market,” Urgewalt analysts commented, noting more than three-quarters of all Yamal LNG exports currently go to Europe.

China is preparing to list Yuan-denominated LNG futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange as early as February in a bid to bolster pricing power of its state-owned LNG importers CNOOC, CNPC, Sinopec and PetroChina.

Private capital from Asian exploration and production (E&P) investor are flocking to the North American market in search for LNG-linked assets. Deal flow is shaped by a ‘merger of equals’ as consolidation among Canada’s Montney shale producers accelerates, and Asian buyers seek to get their hands on shale and LNG-linked assets in the US.

European gas prices have risen above $500 per thousand cubic meters (mcm) reflecting a rise in Henry Hub prices driven by a sharp increase in US LNG exports and cold winter weather.

Santos is ready to ship the first cargo from its $6.1 billion Barossa gas project in the next few days. Currently loaded at Darwin LNG, the cargo will be delivered to the Sakai terminal in Japan.

Woodside Energy is counting on the newly-arrived Scarborough floating production unit (FPU) to revert falling production at North West Shelf. The $16 billion FPU facility will process Scarborough gas via an export trunkline to Pluto LNG, with first cargo on track for summer 2026.

ADNOC Gas has signed a 10-year LNG sales and purchase agreement with India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) – valued at between $2.5 billion and $3 billion – to export 0.5 mtpa of LNG from ADNOC’s Das Island terminal.