Qatar NFE LNG construction still ongoing: contractors

Spanish Market: Natural gas
04/08/26

Contractors of Qatar's 32mn t/yr North Field East (NFE) LNG projects — Japanese Chiyoda and French Technip Energies — have reaffirmed that construction is ongoing, despite earlier disruptions resulting from the US-Iran war.

Construction has resumed after a temporary suspension in works and alternative transportation methods being implemented as a result of heightened tensions in the Mideast Gulf, and the project is progressing accordingly, Chiyoda said, adding that the effect on performance was minimal in the first quarter.

The first process train is undergoing commissioning tests and construction of the second process train has been completed, Technip said.

The project could start production by the end of this year, shareholder TotalEnergies said in April. But market participants believe the target is too optimistic and expect production to start in summer 2027.

Both Technip and Chiyoda have not announced any targets for start-up since the US-Iran war began in late February.

Technip has dedicated a team to repair state-owned QatarEnergy's existing LNG infrastructure — the now-64.2mn t/yr Ras Laffan export facility — that was damaged by Iranian missile strikes, to ensure no labour is removed from Qatar's expansion projects, the company said in May. ExxonMobil — a shareholder in the damaged trains — said in May that the timeline for repairs was not clear.

By Irfan Jaafar

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14/10/26

Another laden Qatari LNG carrier exits Mideast Gulf

London, 14 October (Argus) — State-controlled QatarEnergy's 261,700m³ Al Ghuwairiya LNG carrier switched on its automatic identification equipment in the Indian Ocean today, having not shared its location for almost a month and signalling it has existed the Mideast Gulf laden with LNG. This transit brings the total number of laden LNG carriers to successfully exit the strait of Hormuz in October so far to 14. The Al Ghuwairiya Q-Max LNG carrier issued a location signal early this morning and is declaring for arrival at an unspecified destination on 30 October, according to ship-tracking data from analytics platform Kpler. The vessel's previous location signal was broadcast from the Gulf of Oman on 19 September. The Al Ghuwairiya recorded a draught of 12m today, up from 9.2m on 19 September, suggesting the vessel loaded a cargo in the period between the two signals. It is not clear if the Al Ghuwairiya entered the Mideast Gulf and loaded at Qatar's now-64.2mn t/yr Ras Laffan terminal, or if it received a cargo from another carrier though a ship-to-ship transfer. Including the Al Ghuwairiya , at least 14 LNG carriers controlled by either QatarEnergy or UAE state-controlled Adnoc have reappeared west of Hormuz in October so far. The Adnoc-operated 140,500m³ Gas Polaris stopped sharing its location on 12 October, after delivering a cargo to India's 5mn t/yr Dabhol terminal on 10 October. The vessel's last signal showed it to be sailing back towards the Gulf, suggesting that it may attempt another dark transit of Hormuz to load again at Adnoc's 5.6mn t/yr Das Island terminal. By Cerys Edwards Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

PJM defers 10,000MW of outages during Oct heat spell

13/10/26

PJM defers 10,000MW of outages during Oct heat spell

Houston, 13 October (Argus) — PJM Interconnection, operator of the US' largest grid, has asked power-plant owners to defer 10,000MW of planned outages to maintain reserve margins during this week's unseasonably warm temperatures. Generation outages are expected to total about 62,000MW on 14 October, the date for which PJM issued a maintenance outage recall. About 10,000MW of capacity was deferred to arrive at that sum, PJM said in an email to Argus . PJM forecast peak demand at roughly 111,500MW on 13 October and projected reserves would narrow to within about 900MW of required levels on 14 October even with the outage deferrals. PJM issued multiple emergency alerts covering 12-14 October, warning customers that the grid faces tight conditions. In response to the alerts, the US Department of Energy authorized PJM to temporarily suspend environmental restrictions, allowing it to implement emergency reliability measures, including asking some generators and transmission lines to remain operational or requesting some large-load consumers switch to back up generation if needed. The alerts come as PJM grapples with growing electricity demand and a shrinking window for routine maintenance, which typically occurs during North America's spring or fall seasons. Increasing baseload demand and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns are making it difficult to perform maintenance during periods that historically carried lower reliability risks. Earlier this year, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation warned that the nation's grid operators are increasingly facing reliability challenges outside of traditional peak demand periods, known as shoulder seasons. It noted that this year's March was the warmest in 132 years of recordkeeping, making the grid more vulnerable during a period when the system is not typically configured for high demand. "This is the new reality that grid operators are facing," PJM said. "Planned maintenance season will continue to present risks that we formerly faced only in summer and winter." Temperatures across much of the PJM region, which spans 13 states along the mid-Atlantic and into the Midwest and the District of Columbia, are expected to remain above seasonal norms through mid-October, boosting cooling demand. The winter heating season traditionally begins on 1 November. By Jasmina Kelemen Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Australia’s NSW eyes gas-fired power tender in 2027

13/10/26

Australia’s NSW eyes gas-fired power tender in 2027

Sydney, 13 October (Argus) — Australia's New South Wales (NSW) government plans to launch a tender in early 2027 to support 1.5GW of mostly new gas-fired power capacity that would need to be on line by 31 May 2033 as more of the state's ageing coal-fired plants retire. The tender would be open to different technologies but projects would need to demonstrate "net energy contribution" — or that they increase the total volume of electricity supplied to the system and do not rely on energy consumed from the grid to deliver the contracted capacity — which would exclude standalone batteries or pumped hydro. Projects would also need to be able to dispatch power when required and maintain supply over periods of at least eight hours. Gas-fired plants would therefore be "well placed" to provide all three requirements and make a material contribution to addressing future reliability risks identified by tender operator AusEnergy Services (ASL), an arm of the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo), the firm said today. "We expect most of that [1.5GW] will be through gas peaking," NSW energy minister Penny Sharpe said today at the Australian Financial Review (AFR) Energy and Climate Summit in Sydney. Gas-fired power accounts for just around 2pc of NSW's annual electricity generation, a "small but very significant" part of the system, Sharpe said on 13 October. The share could increase to around 3.9pc by 2050, according to Aemo's 2026 Integrated System Plan (ISP) "step change scenario". NSW is forecast to face a power capacity shortfall of around 1.5GW from 2033-34 following the expected closure of the 2.71GW Bayswater and 1.36GW Vales Point coal-fired power plants. Public consultation on tender design Gas-fired projects have been allowed to bid in firming tenders in NSW under the state's long-term energy service agreement (LTESA) framework but have not been able to compete with batteries. ASL opened a public consultation today on potential changes to the design of a firming LTESA tender to specifically support gas-fired plants. It is asking feedback until 4 November on several points, including setting the default contract term to 20 years to provide long-term revenue certainty more closely aligned to the expected economic life of a gas-fired plant, as well as introducing a cost adjustment regime that takes into account currently "elevated" risks of significant price increases to procure gas turbines globally due to demand from data centres. Strong bids in the future tender are also expected to include long-term gas procurement arrangements and fuel storage capability. The NSW government had already flagged upcoming support to gas-fired power in its Future of Gas Statement released last week. Gas projects are not allowed in the federal Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), which was launched in 2024 to support the country's legislated 82pc renewable electricity target for 2030. Some Australian utilities and market experts had been asking for support for gas-fired power in recent years, including from the federal government. Aemo forecasts Australia will need 17GW of gas-powered generation by 2050 to support the future electricity grid, up from less than 13GW currently. Australian utility and upstream operator Origin Energy last month disclosed plans to build a 1.2GW gas peaking power plant near Marulan in NSW that could begin operation in 2033, which might make it suitable for the tender. Utility EnergyAustralia is planning an even larger gas plant in that same region, the 1.43GW Marulan facility, which could come on line in 2032. ASL said it will decide closer to 2030 whether a contingent tender would be required. By Juan Weik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

IMF upgrades outlook modestly despite war risks

13/10/26

IMF upgrades outlook modestly despite war risks

Washington, 12 October (Argus) — The global economy is holding up better than the IMF expected despite an oil supply shock triggered by the war in the Middle East, but that growth outlook could erode if the conflicts in Iran or Ukraine drag on or further escalate. The IMF's latest World Economic Outlook forecasts the global economy will grow by 3.1pc in 2026, up by 0.1 percentage point from an update in July, with some of those gains driven by an economic rebound in Europe and robust trade flows from parts of Asia. Global growth is on track to increase to 3.4pc in 2027, unchanged from the last update, IMF said. Rerouting energy commodity flows from the Mideast Gulf, releasing oil from strategic reserves and increasing oil production elsewhere has helped blunt disruptions from the closure of the strait of Hormuz. Overall, the disruptions in the strait have prompted the IMF to shave only 0.3 percentage points off anticipated global growth for 2026. If not for the cushion provided by the flexibility of oil supply and a 20pc reduction in global oil intensity over the last decade, the IMF said the war in the Middle East could have cut global growth this year by three times that. Higher oil prices contributed to China's economic growth slowing to 4.5pc this year, down from 5pc in 2025. The US economy is expected to grow by 2.3pc, bolstered by technology-related investments in data centers. Saudi Aribia's economy is projected to shrink by 3.3pc this year because of disruptions from the Middle East war, the IMF said, whereas the comparatively less diversified economies of Bahran, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar are on track for "double digit" economic contractions. But some of the buffers that have mitigated the economic damage from war are running out, and energy markets are "highly sensitive" to any additional disruptions, such as an escalation in attacks on refineries or infrastructure. "Without shoring up supply capacity and replenishing policy buffers, the global economy could soon test the limits of resilience," IMF's chief economist Silvana Tenreyro wrote in a blog post. "Dwindling energy inventories could allow geopolitical shocks to transit even more forcefully to energy prices." Among the energy-related risks are below-average natural gas inventories in Europe that leave the continent vulnerable to extreme winter weather. Continued global depletion of energy supplies are also pushing inventories closer to "stress levels that could lead to nonlinear price adjustments", the IMF said. A prolonged stalemate or escalation in the wars in the Middle East or Ukraine could exacerbate pressure from inflation, which is on track to average 4.7pc this year, up from 4.1pc in 2025, the IMF said. The outlook anticipates global inflation in 2027 will decline to 4.1pc, although that is still 0.2 percentage points higher than the forecast from July. Global investments into artificial intelligence (AI) have been an "offsetting force" to geopolitical headwinds, the IMF said, although that growth has been concentrated in a handful of countries that produce advanced microchips, such as Taiwan and South Korea, or that are building out data centers, such as China and the US. That investment boom is contributing to near-term inflationary pressures, the IMF said, and any future re-reassessment of AI-related profitability could sharply curtail investment and tighten financial conditions. Global growth in 2027 could end up being "materially lower", and inflation "significantly higher", under a risk scenario the IMF developed under which higher commodity prices and concerns over government debt causes a reassessment of borrowing risks, Tenreyro said. Keeping publicly held debt on a "sustainable path" could prevent that scenario, she said. By Chris Knight IMF GDP growth estimates and forecasts Oct 26 WEO % ±July 26 WEO Update* Region 2025 2026 2027 2026 2027 World 3.5 3.1 3.4 0.1 0.0 US 2.3 2.3 2.3 0.0 0.1 Eurozone 1.2 1.1 1.2 0.2 0.0 UK 1.2 1.3 1.2 0.3 -0.1 China 5.0 4.5 4.0 -0.1 0.1 India 7.8 7.0 7.0 0.6 0.3 Japan 1.2 0.7 0.7 0.1 0.0 Russia 1.0 0.9 0.9 -0.2 -0.2 LatAm-Caribbs 2.5 2.3 2.3 -0.1 -0.2 Middle East-central Asia† 3.7 -0.3 6.3 -1.0 -0.2 *percentage point changes †Middle East, north Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, central Asia Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

About 30pc of Gulf of Mexico oil output still shut in

12/10/26

About 30pc of Gulf of Mexico oil output still shut in

New York, 12 October (Argus) — About 30pc of offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was still shut in on Monday as operators scrambled to restore operations in the wake of Hurricane Isaias. Around 604,503 b/d of offshore Gulf oil production and 531mn cf/d of natural gas production were off line as of noon ET on Monday, according to the US Marine Minerals Administration, equal to about 30pc and 25pc of the region's production, respectively. That is down from the 1.5mn b/d of oil and 1.3 Bcf/d of natural gas production off line shortly before the storm made landfall. Firms including BP and Shell began to redeploy staff and restart production from offshore platforms over the weekend after Isaias made landfall in Florida as a category 2 storm late on Friday. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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