LNG
Overview
LNG's role as a key feedstock is well established as it helps manage both input costs and carbon emissions. Heavy industrial users' drive to achieve net zero targets has added a new dimension to how and where it is being deployed. Overall, its use is expected to increase and is tipped to become the strongest-growing fossil fuel.
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Latest LNG news
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More dark Hormuz transits lift Qatari LNG hopes
More dark Hormuz transits lift Qatari LNG hopes
Singapore, 25 September (Argus) — A total of at least five LNG carriers operated by state-owned QatarEnergy (QE) have sailed through the strait of Hormuz without displaying their location over the past week, raising hopes of a potential restart in Qatari LNG exports. The 217,000m³ Al Shamal issued an Automatic Identification Signal (AIS) signal in the Indian Ocean late on 24 September, ship-tracking data from Kpler show. The vessel's previous signal was broadcast on 19 September from nearby Qatar's now-64.2mn t/yr Ras Laffan terminal. This brings the total number of visible QE transits so far this month to 13. The increased number of dark Hormuz transits in the past week was likely one of the factors that raised hopes of Qatari exports restarting, weighing on LNG spot prices, traders said. But they were quick to point out that this may not result in sustained, large-scale outflows of Qatari LNG. The front half-month of the ANEA, the Argus assessment for spot LNG deliveries to northeast Asia was last assessed at $26.20/mn Btu on 25 September, $1.65/mn Btu lower than a week earlier. The front half-month ANEA last hit a peak of $29.56/mn Btu on 15 September, the highest front half-month price since 22 October 2022, before mostly tracking softer European gas hub prices lower. Europe's benchmark gas hub, the Dutch TTF, has also fallen considerably, opening at €75.025/MWh on 25 September, as compared to above €80/MWh just over a week ago, on 14-15 September. Most of the laden vessels that exited the strait of Hormuz has found their way to India, with others destined for Pakistan. Since India began receiving Qatari LNG deliveries, importers in the country have started seeking cargoes further out. Over 25-27 August, some Indian importers were issuing tenders for very prompt deliveries, for delivery as early as 1 September. This just leaves about 11 days as nomination period, compared to the standard nomination period of 20-25 days. But in the past week, a slew of tenders was mostly seeking for deliveries from early October to as late as 21 November, with nomination periods of about 13-58 days from the tender closing date. This implied that their most prompt requirements were met by Qatari deliveries, allowing them to instead plan for their downstream demand further out. Indian importers have issued about 20 tenders so far in September, almost matching the 20 and 21 tenders issued in July and August, respectively, according to Argus data. Most recently, on 23 September, aside from the Al Shamal , three other LNG carriers sailed through the strait of Hormuz without displaying their location. By Naomi Ong and Rou Urn Lee Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
France to help protect Yanbu: Macron
France to help protect Yanbu: Macron
New York, 24 September (Argus) — French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said his country has finalized discussions with Saudi Arabia to send military assets to help protect the Red Sea port of Yanbu. "We will send military resources, soldiers, radars, defense systems, to protect this site," Macron said in an interview with French news channel TF1. France does not aim "to engage in conflict, but to protect this site." France and Saudi Arabia finalized discussions on the matter on Thursday, after Yemen's Houthi militants inflicted significant damage on the port, Macron said. Macron underscored the strategic importance of Yanbu, noting that "a few weeks ago more than 5mn b/d were coming out of it. That is not negligible." The Houthis claimed to have conducted fresh strikes on Thursday, targeting a Saudi Aramco facility in Yanbu and the Saudi capital of Riyadh. There has been no independent confirmation of the purported attacks. France's offer of military aid comes a week after the UK agreed to limited refueling support for Saudi Arabia. The US has yet to extend any support for Saudi Arabia in the wake of the attacks. President Donald Trump described the attack as a matter between the Saudis and the Houthis. "There's just one country that they're not too happy with," Trump said on 12 September, in the wake of the attack on the East-West Pipeline. "The Houthis called us, and they don't want to fight with us," he said. Macron continued to emphasize the need for dialogue with the Iranians and Omanis to reopen the strait of Hormuz through diplomatic means. By Charlotte Bawol Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
High costs belie US claim of opening Hormuz
High costs belie US claim of opening Hormuz
New York, 22 September (Argus) — President Donald Trump's administration has become increasingly confident it has eroded Iran's ability to constrict energy flows through the strait of Hormuz, but the high price of those efforts — both economically and militarily — is calling into question its long-term viability. "We now have more oil flowing through the strait than at any point by far since the conflict began," Trump told a group of Mideast Gulf diplomats assembled in New York on Tuesday to hear his vision for bringing the conflict with Iran to a swift conclusion. But Trump also told the group that progress on resolving the conflict can wait until after the 3 November US midterm elections, meaning more months of turmoil in what had been promised to be a short conflict. While crude prices have fallen this week, refined products prices — particularly diesel — are reaching record highs in many markets around the globe. The high costs to consumers has some countries considering more subsidies, and has even spurred the US administration to consider a ban on diesel exports . The US military is spending at least $3bn a month at the current rate of hostilities with Iran, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated last week. Most of the US efforts are going into enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports and extending protection to ships passing through the strait on the southern route near the coast of Oman. "The costs of sustaining US active defense of a southern export route are high, but many of those costs are obscured and shifted to the future," Joshua Tallis, research program director at the Center for Naval Analyses, told Argus on Tuesday. "Delayed maintenance, extended operating hours for ships and aircraft, higher use of reservists — these are all bills that will incur real costs for the military." But the US does not need to lift oil exports through Hormuz to pre-war levels to be able to claim success, said retired General David Petraeus, a former CIA director, at the Concordia Summit in New York on Tuesday. The US would only need to ramp up regional exports to around 16mn-17mn b/d — about 80pc of pre-war levels —due to demand destruction and alternative sources of crude such as the US and Venezuela, he said. The US' ability to prevail over Iran "... depends on whether or not we can facilitate the supply of crude out of the strait and the other bypasses to get the crude market back in balance," Petraeus said. US officials have in recent weeks been emphasizing the need to reduce reliance on Hormuz for energy exports, an idea challenged by countries in the Mideast Gulf, including Qatar . But following attacks that shut down the East-West pipeline, restricting exports from the Red Sea, Saudi Aramco is now expected to send at least 56mn bl of crude through the strait of Hormuz during September and October, increasing reliance on the waterway despite heightened security concerns. But even if more crude flows through the strait, the costs will remain high. The ongoing security risks and a limited pool of vessels available to transit Hormuz have pushed the rate for a very large crude carrier to move Middle Eastern crude through Hormuz to Asia to $34.31/bl on 18 September, its highest level since Argus began assessing the route in November 2016. By Charlotte Bawol Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US-Iran deal hard to come by: Qatar
US-Iran deal hard to come by: Qatar
Washington, 21 September (Argus) — Qatar is working to help secure a short-term agreement between the US and Iran to restart negotiations and pave the way for broader regional talks, but the path to a deal remains fraught, a senior Qatari official said on Monday. "Any agreement right now is not going to be a final agreement, it's going to be an agreement to start negotiations," Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said at the Concordia Summit in New York on Monday. Qatar, alongside with Pakistan, has played a leading role in attempting to broker a diplomatic resolution of the conflict between Iran and the US. "On both sides, there is an expectation that the other side will blink first," Al-Ansari said. The reopening of the strait of Hormuz and a viable ceasefire in the region are the requisite preconditions for the US-Iran dialogue, al-Ansari said. A lasting peace deal between the US and Iran needs to restore the pre-war status quo in the strait of Hormuz, he said. But Tehran has made it clear it seeks to retain a degree of control over Hormuz flows, possibly in collaboration with Oman and other neighboring states. Iranian president Massoud Pezeshkian and US president Donald Trump both are attending the UN General Assembly in New York this week, but so far, there is no meeting scheduled between the two leaders. Traffic through Hormuz remains at a fraction of pre-war levels. The US military has enabled the passage of oil tankers through the strait, despite non-stop Iranian attacks on vessels passing through that lane, which skirts the Omani coast. The US effort enabled exports of 1bn bl of crude and products in the past two months, the top US military commander in the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, asserted on 19 September. The figure, amounting to roughly 16mn b/d, is far higher than what independent analysts estimate or what other US government officials previously have claimed. The US is set to convene a meeting with Mideast Gulf officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. "There might be differences between the way we perceive Iran, but I think all of us in the region perceive the US in the same way, which is a strategic partner that we are working with," al-Ansari said. "Tomorrow's meeting will be toward that end." Diplomats from the Mideast Gulf countries, joined by Iraq, were set to meet with an Iranian delegation in Oman on 14 September to discuss regional issues, including shipping through the strait of Hormuz. But the meeting was cancelled at the last minute, a decision al-Ansari attributed to a drone attack that forced Saudi Aramco to shut down its 7mn b/d East-West pipeline. The Mideast Gulf countries are working to keep conflict resolution efforts on separate tracks for the Saudi-Houthi confrontation in Yemen and the broader war between the US and Iran, al-Ansari said. "If there's going to be a suspension of the Houthi attacks, if there's going to be a de-escalation on that front, it'll probably start with a de-escalation with the Iranians," Michael Ratney, the former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said last week. The planned meeting between Iran and its Mideast Gulf states likely got delayed because Iran's neighbors need to work out a common position "on a very, very contentious set of issues," Ratney said during a discussion hosted by Washington think tank the Arab Gulf States Institute. "But I think many of the Gulf states may well have given up on US diplomacy, resolving this war or ending it satisfactorily, and are turning to direct contacts with the Iranians themselves," Ratney said. By Charlotte Bawol and Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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