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
Browse the latest market moving news on the global LNG industry.
US’ Delfin LNG plans FID ‘in the next month’
US’ Delfin LNG plans FID ‘in the next month’
Houston, 12 January (Argus) — Delfin Midstream should make a final investment decision (FID) greenlighting construction of a 4.4mn t/yr floating LNG export unit (FLNG) offshore Louisiana "in the next month", the company said today. Delfin also signed a purchase order with contractor Semiens Energy for gas turbines and extended a letter of award with Samsung Heavy Industries, the firm constructing the FLNG unit. The company previously planned to reach an FID in November . A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment clarifying if Delfin would take FID in the next 30 days or in the month of February. Delfin has plans for up to three FLNG units with a combined 13.2mn t/yr capacity. The firm said last year it could reach FID on the second unit in early 2026, but that timeline appears unlikely barring the announcement of new offtake agreements. The project so far has contracted about 3.3mn t/yr to customers in binding agreements, with another 2.5mn t/yr in preliminary deals. Commercial operations on the first FLNG unit are expected to begin in the second half of 2030. Two other US LNG projects also pushed their FID timelines into early 2026: Caturus' 9.5mn t/yr Commonwealth LNG in Louisiana and Glenfarne's 4mn t/yr Texas LNG in south Texas. Commonwealth cleared its primary construction contractor to purchase major equipment in late December. US midstream Energy Transfer planned an FID on another LNG facility, the 16.5mn t/yr Lake Charles LNG, but suspended plans in mid-December to refocus on its network of natural gas pipelines. The move signaled a slowdown in the US LNG industry after a banner year in 2025, which saw developers proceed with plans for more than 65mn t/yr of new capacity. By Tray Swanson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan’s Shimane reactor to shut for Feb-Aug turnaround
Japan’s Shimane reactor to shut for Feb-Aug turnaround
Osaka, 9 January (Argus) — Japanese utility Chugoku Electric Power plans to shut its 820MW Shimane No.2 nuclear reactor from February-August to carry out maintenance works. Chugoku will close the No.2 reactor at Shimane in western Japan on 9 February, the company said on 8 January. Test generation is expected to resume on 6 August in the final phase of the turnaround, according to a power plant operational status notice by the Japan Electric Power Exchange. Full maintenance completion is targeted for 4 September. This will be the first maintenance check for the Shimane reactor since it returned to service in December 2024 after nearly 13 years off line for enhanced nuclear safety inspections following the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The Shimane No.2 reactor is Chugoku's sole nuclear unit in operation. The shutdown would require the utility to boost replacement thermal generation units to meet peak demand in the remainder of winter and in early summer. Chugoku consumed 2.72mn t of coal in April-September 2025, up by 16pc from the same period a year earlier, while its oil use rose by 25pc to 1,719 b/d. But LNG consumption fell by 11pc to 500,000t during the period. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan utilities keep LNG stocks above average into 2026
Japan utilities keep LNG stocks above average into 2026
Osaka, 7 January (Argus) — Japan's major power utilities maintained higher-than-average LNG inventories through the New Year holidays, even as stock withdrawals picked up. Utilities held 2.3mn t of LNG stocks on 4 January, down by 5.3pc from a week earlier, according to a weekly survey by the trade and industry ministry Meti. But this was 23pc higher than the 1.87mn t recorded on 5 January 2025 and 12.2pc above the end-January average of 2.05mn t over 2021-25. Japanese power demand fell by 15pc on the week to an average of 90GW across 29 December-4 January, as power consumption particularly in business and industrial sectors declined over the holiday period, which typically runs from 27 December to 4 January this year. Demand in the Chubu region — a manufacturing hub for Japanese auto producer Toyota — plunged by 22pc, the largest drop among the country's 10 service areas, from the previous week to 12GW. Weaker power demand reduced the country's gas-fired generation by 24pc from a week earlier to an average of 26GW during the week to 4 January. Coal- and oil-fired output also fell by 20pc to 26GW and by 25pc to 373GW, respectively. The week-on-week decline in LNG stocks, despite lower gas-fired utilization, suggests utilities received less LNG than they consumed during the holidays. Japan discharged only 631,780t of LNG over 29 December-4 January, down from 1.16mn t a week earlier, according to data from oil analytics firm Vortexa. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia's Gladstone LNG loadings fall in December
Australia's Gladstone LNG loadings fall in December
Adelaide, 6 January (Argus) — Exports of LNG from Gladstone harbour on Australia's east coast were 15pc lower on the year in December 2025, as the port finished 2025 with shipments down on 2024's record loadings. Exports of 1.88mn t for December were down from the 2.2mn t shipped in December 2024, data from Gladstone Ports (GPC) show. The port shipped 23.46mn t of LNG for 2025, down from 24.04mn t a year earlier , which was a record high for the port. China's LNG receipts from GPC facilities fell by 1mn t in 2025 compared with the previous year, likely due to growth in China's domestic gas production and increased pipeline imports. About 57pc of Gladstone's LNG exports arrived in China in 2025, down from 60pc a year earlier and a record 72pc in 2019. Upstream operator of the 9mn t/yr Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) Origin Energy has reported natural decline at coalbed gas fields, while the Santos-operated 7.8mn t/yr Gladstone LNG reported that LNG output was up by 2pc on the year in January-September 2025 . A mandated reservation scheme policy , which will force all three Gladstone LNG projects to reserve up to 25pc of gas produced for local markets starting in 2027, has yet to be legislated by Canberra, but will not apply to existing contracted gas, the federal government said. By Tom Major Gladstone LNG exports (mn t) China Japan South Korea Malaysia Singapore Total Cargoes Dec '25 1.03 0.12 0.36 0.18 0.05 1.88 29 Nov '25 1.16 0.07 0.4 0.18 0.12 2.07 32 Dec '24 1.36 0.26 0.39 0.12 0.07 2.2 33 2025 13.33 1.71 4.32 2.29 1.22 23.46 364 2024 14.33 1.46 3.97 2.58 0.89 24.04 364 Source: GPC Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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