Q3 2026 Activities
Coastal Bend LNG LLC has requested the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to begin a pre-filing review of the Texas project, thereby initiating the formal permitting process. (5 August 2026, Rigzone)
American LNG producers were unable to take advantage of a rally in global gas prices in July as maintenance and seasonally lower production kept export volumes largely unchanged from the previous month. U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas slipped to 10.48 million metric tons (MT) in July from 10.6 MT in June, according to preliminary data from financial firm LSEG. (4 August 2026, Reuters)
Sempra said it has extended the "commissioning process" for the ECA LNG project in Ensenada, Mexico, which already shipped its first cargo last month. (4 August 2026, Rigzone)
Coastal Bend LNG announced today that it has initiated the formal permitting process for its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility along the Texas Gulf Coast. Coastal Bend LNG submitted a request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to initiate the pre-filing review and expects to file its formal application with FERC under Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act in early 2027. (4 August 2026, Business Wire)
A liquefied natural gas vessel controlled by Greek shipping company GasLog was stable after an incident while exiting the Strait of Hormuz, with everyone on board safe and accounted for, the company said. An "incident" had occurred on its Gaslog Shanghai LNG vessel on July 31, said GasLog in a statement. It did not provide details about the incident or whether the ship or its cargo had sustained any damage. (3 August 2026, MarineLink)
The US said it had no role in redirecting the first Qatari liquefied natural gas shipment to transit the Strait of Hormuz in more than three weeks, according to Bloomberg. The Al Areesh, which had been idling in the Persian Gulf since loading at Qatar’s Ras Laffan export terminal in early July, transited the waterway early Thursday with its transponders switched on and was signaling Pakistan as its destination. (2 August 2026, The News, Pakistan)
A Bermuda-flagged tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by missiles overnight Saturday, while embassies in the region urged Americans to leave the Middle East ahead of a massive US and Israeli attack expected to target Iran’s energy infrastructure. The Gaslog Shanghai LNG ship, which was carrying liquefied natural gas, sustained damage to its engine room, rendering it inoperable off the Omani coast, Bloomberg reported, citing security intelligence sources. (1 August 2026, New York Post)
Japan’s biggest buyer of liquefied gas has told media it has secured enough supplies until October and there is no risk of summer shortages during peak air-conditioning demand, Channel News Asia has reported. (31 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
Italy became Europe’s top importer of liquefied natural gas in July as traders made use of government incentives to keep buying cargoes despite soaring prices, while neighbouring countries held back on costly purchases and allowed storage levels to lag. (31 July 2026, The Edge, Singapore)
Uniper SE and Ksi Lisims LNG LP announced Wednesday an agreement for the long-term supply of Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Germany. German power and gas utility Uniper will buy two million metric tons (about 30 terawatt hours) per annum (MMtpa) of LNG from the British Columbia project for up to 20 years on a free-on-board basis, a joint statement said. Deliveries are to start 2032. (30 July 2026, Rigzone)
QatarEnergy (QE) has bought 33 spot LNG cargoes this year from the U.S. for delivery to South Korea, Taiwan, Bangladesh, India and Japan, four trade and industry sources said, as it tried to reduce disruption to key customers after Qatari gas exports through the Strait of Hormuz were halted by the Iran war. (30 July 2026, Reuters)
Petroliam Nasional Bhd has penned an initial agreement to continue supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Hokuriku Electric Power Co, the latest Japanese utility to recently tap Malaysia's national oil and gas company for LNG supply. (30 July 2026, Rigzone)
A move by QatarEnergy to send an LNG carrier through the Strait of Hormuz is drawing wide attention and spurring speculation about future shipments. The LNG carrier Al Areesh (148,786 cbm) cleared the Strait, marking the first time an LNG carrier working for Qatar has made the transit in nearly three weeks. (30 July 2026, Maritime Executive)
Eni, TotalEnergies sanction Cronos gas development offshore Cyprus. The project will connect Cyprus' Cronos gas field to Egypt's existing offshore and LNG infrastructure, creating the country's first producing gas development and targeting exports to European markets. (26 July 2026, Offshore)
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is pushing on with liquefied natural gas exports from its Persian Gulf plant, even as renewed hostilities in the region force producers to curb visible traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. (29 July 2026, Rigzone)
Two LNG carriers have been attacked in the Egyptian port of Damietta, which lies on the Mediterranean coast at the eastern end of the Nile Delta, in an apparent dramatic widening of the war in the region. (29 July 2026, Maritime Executive)
Woodside Energy Group Ltd., Australia’s biggest natural gas exporter, said output slumped by more than a quarter in the three months through June after a cyclone that impacted operations and planned maintenance at its Pluto export plant. Gas production fell by 27% from a year earlier in the second quarter, while total output declined 18% to 41.3 MMboe, Woodside said Wednesday in a regulatory filing. Average realized prices rose 44% in the period, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz impacted shipments from rival liquefied natural gas producers including Qatar. (29 July 2026, World Oil)
Taiwan has suspended approximately 500,000 metric tons of liquefied natural gas purchases from Papua New Guinea every six months, removing roughly $800 million of spot-market demand after Port Moresby ordered the closure of Taipei’s representative office. (29 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
The UAE is still exporting liquefied natural gas, despite the threat of strikes in the Strait of Hormuz. According to a Bloomberg report, an ADNOC LNG tanker appeared in the Persian Gulf earlier today, successfully exiting the Strait of Hormuz, reportedly with its location devices turned off to avoid detection. (29 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
PetroChina Co. is weighing options to sell part of its shares in LNG Canada Development Inc. to help fund a planned expansion, according to people familiar with the matter. (28 July 2026, World Oil)
Some of the world’s biggest heavyweights in liquefied natural gas exports are interested in adding Cambodia to their client list as the Southeast Asian nation build sits first LNG-fueled power station. The United States, Australia, Canada, and some Southeast Asian countries are among those interested in supplying fuel for the new power plant, Cambodia’s energy minister, Keo Rottanak, told Bloomberg in an interview. (24 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
Global liquefied natural gas exports grew by about 1.2 trillion cubic feet in 2025. The United States supplied approximately 1.10 trillion cubic feet of that increase. Put another way, roughly 93% of the world’s additional LNG came from the United States. (24 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
A global fight for liquefied natural gas threatens to unravel Europe’s strategy of delaying winter purchases until the Strait of Hormuz reopens. Governments and energy companies ended last winter believing they could afford to delay rebuilding stockpiles, even as they hit the lowest levels since 2022. (24 July 2026, Financial Post)
French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), earns about $400 million annually from selling liquefied natural gas cargoes from Russia's Yamal LNG plant, TotalEnergies' CEO told analysts on a results call on Thursday. (24 July 2026, Reuters)
The war in the Middle East has diminished the negotiating power that key regional LNG exporters Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have enjoyed for years. Importers of LNG from Europe to Asia plan to negotiate better terms in future long-term deals and ask for lower prices and higher contract flexibility, industry executives at LNG importing companies have told Reuters. (23 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
QatarEnergy is preparing to further extend force majeure on liquefied natural gas shipments through mid-October, according to people with knowledge of the matter, in a move that would prolong the supply shock that has disrupted the global gas market amid war in the Middle East. (23 July 2026, Rigzone)
The resumption of the Iran conflict, including the effective closures of the Strait of Hormuz and now the Strait of Bab el-Mandebhas driven up natural gas prices, particularly in Europe and Asia. (22 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
The LNG market faces potential contraction in 2026 due to conflicts affecting Qatar and the UAE, but long-term growth remains strong, with capacity and demand projected to rise substantially by 2030 and 2050. (22 July 2026, Oil & Gas Journal)
ADNOC announced, in a statement posted on its website this week, that it is accelerating its integrated global gas growth strategy with a $6.2 billion (AED22.6 billion) final investment decision (FID) to develop the Umm Shaif Gas Cap in Abu Dhabi alongside its international partners. (22 July 2026, Rigzone)
The Shell PLC-led LNG Canada joint venture said it had signed an agreement allowing five First Nations neighboring the project in British Columbia to invest up to CAD 1 billion ($712.17 million) in phase 2. (20 July 2026, Rigzone)
Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has signed a new agreement to supply about 0.84 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Shizuoka Gas Co Ltd. (20 July 2026, Rigzone)
The profound growth of U.S. LNG is exceeding all expectations. That’s what Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman of S&P Global, said in a statement sent to Rigzone recently, adding that, “what has become a $44 billion annual industry in just the last decade is now poised to be the country’s second largest net export within five years”. (20 July 2026, Rigzone)
A new study projects that, under current conditions, US feedgas demand for LNG exports is expected to double to 36 bcfd within 5 years, 25% higher than previous base case projections. (17 July 2026, Oil & Gas Journal)
Delfin's CEO, Dudley Poston, said securing manufacturing slots for critical long-lead equipment is “an important advancement in de-risking the project schedule as we work toward FID for the second vessel." (16 July 2026, Oil & Gas Journal)
US LNG developer Glenfarne has unveiled a $500mn commitment from BlackRock-backed HPS Investment Partners as the firm steps closer to a final investment decision on its proposed 4mn t/yr (530mn ft³/d) Texas LNG export terminal. (15 July 2026, Argus Media)
Global LNG trade reached a record 56.3 bcfd in 2025, with expanded US export capacity fueling most of the growth, according to the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL), an industry association that tracks worldwide LNG trade. (15 July 2026, Oil & Gas Journal)
Asia's imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are poised to hit a six-month high in July while Europe's imports plunge to their lowest in nearly two years. While some of the strength in Asia is because of seasonal demand during the summer peak, the weakness in Europe underscores just how far the second-biggest consuming region is falling behind in building inventories for winter demand. (13 July 2026, Reuters)
The Strait of Hormuz reopened less than a month ago, but Dubai is already planning for the next closure. DP World is reportedly in talks to build a new multipurpose port and container terminal in Fujairah on the UAE's east coast, creating another shipping route that avoids Hormuz altogether. According to the Financial Times, construction could take as little as 18 months. The company has acknowledged it is pursuing diversification projects to get through future disruptions. (13 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
XRG has expanded its stake in the Rio Grande LNG project, giving the UAE a larger role in one of America's most important LNG export facilities with Washington's apparent backing. (13 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
Petronas LNG has signed a new LNG sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Shizuoka Gas to supply approximately 0.84 million metric tonnes (mt) of LNG for seven years, commencing in 2032. (13 July 2026, Offshore Energy)
Oil and LNG tankers are back to switching off transponders when transiting the Strait of Hormuz as the latest escalation in the region and last week’s Iranian attacks on commercial ships prompted vessel operators to brave the chokepoint unobserved. (13 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
The list of large-scale energy infrastructure projects continues to grow. Rarely a day goes by without news of more data centres or power plants, plans for new or expanded airports and ports, or ambitious pipelines. Nuclear power plants are rising in stature too as the world demands clean, continuous electricity without greenhouse gases. (13 July 2026, GasWorld.com)
The European Union imported a record 9.97 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth €5.96 billion (~$6.82 billion) from Russia's Yamal LNG facility in the first half of 2026, marking a 16% increase compared to the same period in 2025 as they front-loaded Russian energy supplies ahead of impending phase-out bans. Kpler data shows that European buyers absorbed over 97% of the Siberian facility's total output during the first half of the year, despite years-long efforts to overcome dependency on Russian energy. (13 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
New Zealand plans to sign a deal for its first LNG import facility before the November election, a step that could open a new destination for LNG shipping and add flexibility to the country’s power system. (12 July 2026, TankerMap)
With passage through the Strait of Hormuz uncertain, Qatar must now delay its ramp-up of LNG production. What: Qatar’s plans to ramp-up LNG production have been put on hold after a Qatari LNG tanker was struck by a missile fired by Iranian forces. (11 July 2026, Intellinews)
ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S) has ordered four next-generation LNG carriers valued at approximately $900 million, expanding its newbuild program to support growing global LNG demand and ADNOC's long-term gas growth strategy. The four vessels, each with a capacity of 175,000 m³, will be built by Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai and are scheduled for delivery in 2029. (10 July 2026, World Oil)
Close to half a dozen liquefied natural gas carriers have gone into the Strait of Hormuz in the past few days and six have exited the strait, despite the recent return to hostilities between the United States and Iran. (10 July 2026, OilPrice.com)
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co PJSC and Japan's Mitsui & Co Ltd have signed an agreement to explore potential joint projects across the energy value chain. (10 July 2026, Rigzone)
Pakistan is urgently seeking to secure a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo after renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz disrupted supplies from Qatar, forcing the country back into the costly spot market Bloomberg reported. (9 July 2026, Business Recorder)
The Private Department of Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan (the “Private Department”) has today committed to invest $1.13bn in MidOcean Energy (“MidOcean” or the “Company”), a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company formed and managed by EIG. (7 July 2026, Business Wire)