Natural gas
Overview
Natural gas has been fuelling industrial and economic growth across developed and developing countries. Its usage is set to increase as it is also being considered as a low-carbon fuel that can help make the transition to a no-to-low-carbon economy. Argus is your irreplaceable source of price information, news, expert analysis and fundamentals data for international natural gas markets.
Whether you need access to key gas prices and indexes, expert commentary on all the latest industry developments, or market data to aid your business planning, we give you the information you need and the expert view to understand it.
Latest natural gas news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global natural gas industry.
Kanadevia, Nippon Steel Engineering to explore merger
Kanadevia, Nippon Steel Engineering to explore merger
Tokyo, 5 February (Argus) — Japanese engineering companies Kanadevia and Nippon Steel Engineering agreed to explore merging their businesses to meet future demand growth for waste management and waste-to-energy plants. Kanadevia and Nippon Steel's wholly owned subsidiary Nippon Steel Engineering signed the initial agreement on 5 February to explore a possible merger by April 2027. The companies aim to finalise their decision by November 2026. Kanadevia and Nippon Steel Engineering expect demand for waste management plants in Japan to grow because of the many domestic plants that are ageing, which will require renewal. The companies also forecast a rise in demand for waste-to-energy plants overseas — especially in growing markets like north America and southeast Asia — given the drive towards decarbonisation. Kanadevia has expanded its decarbonisation businesses, including to waste-to-energy plants and hydrogen- and ammonia-related products. Kanadevia's Switzerland-based green technology subsidiary Kanadevia Inova added 11 UK biogas plants to its portfolio after buying low-carbon asset management firm Iona Capital. Kanadevia plans to start commercial operations of its plant, which will produce polymer-electrolyte-membrane water electrolyser stacks , in the April 2028-March 2029 fiscal year. It also plans to invest in building production facilities for ammonia-fuelled ship engines , aiming to begin operations in 2028-29. Kanadevia will sell 25pc of its stake in its subsidiary Hitachi Zosen Marine Engine by the end of March 2026. Kanadevia expects to own 40pc, while Japan's major shipbuilder Imabari Shipbuilding will raise its share from 35pc to 60pc after the sale. The move is intended to speed up the development of ammonia-fuelled ship engines by allowing Imabari Shipbuilding to lead the project. By Nanami Oki Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US biofuel tax rule may help resellers, farmers: Update
US biofuel tax rule may help resellers, farmers: Update
Updates with details from draft regulations, industry reactions New York, 3 February (Argus) — President Donald Trump's administration expects to update the rules around a low-carbon fuel tax credit to allow more types of fuel sales to qualify and to encourage farmers to grow crops more sustainably. The US Department of Treasury on Tuesday released a long-awaited proposal spelling out how to qualify for the "45Z" tax credit, which kicked off in 2025 and was extended by Republicans' tax and energy bill last summer. The general structure of the credit — which offers a sliding scale of subsidies to alternative fuel producers based on greenhouse gas emissions — is known, but industry has been pushing for more clarity on thorny eligibility questions. The proposed regulations Tuesday clarify, for instance, that producers can claim 45Z tax breaks for fuel that is sold to intermediaries. Sales to wholesalers or traders are common in fuel markets, but lawyers interpreted partial guidance issued in the waning days of former-president Joe Biden's term as potentially requiring that fuel must be sold to end users to qualify. The fuel sale question had left many refiners unclear as to how to qualify for an incentive crucial to their margins and had snarled logistics in key biofuel markets. Major biofuel producers idled facilities last year too, in part because of the lack of final rules around what was then a new and unfamiliar tax break. Producers of biofuels such as ethanol, biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel have been closely watching for the 45Z tax guidance, especially since the Trump administration is late setting new biofuel blend mandates and Congress has punted on a proposal to allow a higher-ethanol gasoline blend year-round. The proposed regulations, which will go through a public comment period that includes a 28 May public hearing, will still need to be finalized. But they signal how the Trump administration is thinking about the complicated incentive and will allow producers to rely on existing guidance when preparing their tax returns until final regulations are available. "I think there is going to be a significantly greater sense of certainty going forward — obviously not absolute certainty — but I think people will be willing to start negotiating these contracts assuming the proposed regulations get finalized in substantially the same form," said Liz McGinley, chair of the tax department at law firm Bracewell. More certainty from the proposed rules could lead to "more successful and economically reasonable" tax credit transfer sales too, McGinley said. Some biofuel makers have already signed multimillion-dollar deals to sell their 45Z credits at a discount to their book values, promising revenue from the incentive even before tax season. Others have waited for more clarity. Soil to subsidy Some details still depend on final rules, however. The proposal signals that the Trump administration expects to eventually credit more on-farm emissions reductions, which would effectively reward biofuel producers that source sustainably grown crops with larger subsidies. The Biden administration had released an initial calculator so that corn, soybean and sorghum farmers could track the climate benefits of practices like cover crops and no-till agriculture. But it was unclear whether Trump, a skeptic of climate science, would continue the effort at all. The Tuesday proposal was unexpectedly far-reaching in those plans for rewarding sustainably grown crops, suggesting that the agriculture program could mean larger tax breaks not just in the future but for fuel sold last year. A tool for incorporating carbon reductions from farm practices will "likely" be added to a Department of Energy emissions tracking model this year, the Tuesday proposal said. Treasury expects to issue additional recordkeeping and verification requirements too. "We have a seat at the table, but we do not have the details yet," said Mitchell Hora, an Iowa farmer and the chief executive of soil health tracking platform Continuum Ag. Biofuel and farm groups were encouraged by the proposal — particularly the clarity around fuel sales — but said they needed more information too, including an updated version of the Department of Energy (DOE) emissions tracking model. A Treasury official told Argus that DOE was working on model updates "in the near term". DOE did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Department of Agriculture said that fuel producers should treat the farm emissions tracking tools issued under the Biden administration as "preliminary and should not rely upon them". Legislation signed by Trump in 2025 already restricts the 45Z credit starting this year to US producers of fuels sourced from North American feedstocks, and the Tuesday proposal signals that the administration could require additional recordkeeping for feedstocks imported from Canada and Mexico. The law also changed how regulators track land use emissions, effectively hiking subsidies this year for crop-based fuels even before accounting for on-farm practices. By Cole Martin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US biofuel tax rule to benefit resellers, farmers
US biofuel tax rule to benefit resellers, farmers
New York, 3 February (Argus) — President Donald Trump's administration expects to update the rules around a low-carbon fuel tax credit to allow more types of fuel sales to qualify and to encourage farmers to grow crops more sustainably. The US Department of Treasury on Tuesday will release a long-awaited proposal spelling out how to qualify for the "45Z" tax credit, which kicked off in 2025 and was extended by Republicans' tax and energy bill last summer. The general structure of the credit — which offers a sliding scale of subsidies to alternative fuel producers based on greenhouse gas emissions — is known, but industry has been pushing for more clarity on thorny eligibility questions. The proposed regulations Tuesday will clarify, for instance, that producers can claim 45Z tax breaks for fuel that is sold to intermediaries, according to Treasury officials. Sales to wholesalers or traders are common in fuel markets, but lawyers interpreted partial guidance issued in the waning days of former-president Joe Biden's term as potentially requiring that fuel must be sold to end users to qualify. The fuel sale question had left many refiners unclear how exactly to qualify for an incentive crucial to their margins and snarled logistics in key biofuel markets. Major biofuel producers idled facilities last year too, in part because of the lack of final rules around what was then a new and unfamiliar tax break. 45Z tax guidance has been closely awaited by producers of biofuels like ethanol, biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel, especially as the Trump administration is late setting new biofuel blend mandates and Congress has punted on a proposal to allow a higher-ethanol gasoline blend year-round. The proposed regulations, which will go through a 60-day public comment period after publication in the Federal Register , will still need to be finalized. But they signal how the Trump administration is thinking about the complicated incentive, and will allow producers to rely on existing guidance when preparing their tax returns until final regulations are available. Some details will depend on final rules, however. The proposal will signal that the Trump administration expects to eventually credit more on-farm emissions reductions, which would effectively reward biofuel producers that source sustainably grown crops with larger subsidies, Treasury officials said. The Biden administration had released an initial calculator so that corn, soybean and sorghum farmers could track the climate benefits of practices like cover crops and no-till agriculture. But it was unclear whether Trump, a skeptic of climate science, would continue the effort at all. Treasury expects to publish additional guidance on recordkeeping and verification requirements and will also need to coordinate with other agencies to fully incorporate new data on agricultural practices into a government model for tracking emissions. Legislation signed by Trump last year already restricts the 45Z credit starting this year to US producers of fuels sourced from North American feedstocks. The law also changed how regulators track land use emissions, effectively hiking subsidies this year for crop-based fuels. By Cole Martin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
German, Dutch injection demand may hit multi-year high
German, Dutch injection demand may hit multi-year high
London, 30 January (Argus) — Germany and the Netherlands will need to add substantially more gas to underground storage sites this summer than last to meet their legal filling targets. Germany and the Netherlands need to inject a combined 226TWh in April-October, in a conservative scenario that assumes withdrawals over the remainder of this winter are in line with the three-year average. This would be up from 185TWh over the period in 2025, which had already been higher than in the previous two years. Germany has a national 70pc target for 1 November, while the Netherlands has a 115TWh target, equating to about 80pc of capacity. But storage withdrawals may stay high over the remainder of the winter, particularly in the Netherlands. Gasterra plans to fully deplete the 59TWh Norg and 24TWh Grijspkerk sites by 1 April ahead of their handover to operator Nam. The Netherlands' only other large storage site, the 49TWh Bergermeer, held only 15TWh of gas as of 28 January. Combined German and Dutch withdrawals have held 1.02 TWh/d above the three-year average since the start of January. If withdrawals were above average by half that rate over the remainder of winter — around 510 GWh/d — it would raise injection demand by another 32TWh. Low stocks in Germany and the Netherlands have an outsized effect on the bloc, as 35pc of the EU's working gas capacity is located in the two countries. German sites were 34pc full on 28 January, the lowest for that date since at least 2011, when GIE data collection began. And Dutch sites were 28pc full, their lowest since 2011, excluding the 2022 crisis year. Stocks in the rest of the EU were at 49pc of capacity. Market-based filling systems may struggle Summer restocking faces a major hurdle, because prevailing summer-winter spreads offer no incentive for firms to buy and fill storage space. The Dutch TTF and German THE summer 2026 contracts have held premiums to corresponding winter 2026-27 prices for almost every day since 16 January. As a result, operators have failed to allocate any of the 5.7TWh of storage capacity offered for the German market area or the 750GWh for the Dutch market area for the 2026-27 storage year at auctions in January. The German government has so far signalled that it has no plans to intervene to make sure that the country meets its start-of-November filling target. Letting the market handle storage filling is the "right approach" this year, the government told Argus in mid-January. The state last bought gas to fill storage in 2022 during the energy crisis, and recouped the billions of euros that it spent through a levy on consumers that ran until the end of 2025. Some other European governments have been more interventionist. Italy last year offered bonuses to firms to offset losses from inverted spreads, while French operators received guaranteed minimum revenues, and the Netherlands can mandate storage injections through state-owned EBN when the market fails. In an integrated EU market, such measures can push up summer prices and distort market-based price signals in markets like Germany, where the state safety net is less certain, discouraging commercial filling. German storage operators' association INES has subsequently called for a standardised EU framework . Consequences for central Europe Low stocks in northwest Europe are partly driven by the strong west-east configuration of gas flows, and will have implications for central Europe's restocking campaign. Central European markets have pulled more gas from markets further west, and Germany in particular, since Russian gas transit through Ukraine halted at the end of 2024. German exports to the Czech Republic rose to 251 GWh/d in 2025 from 89 GWh/d in 2024, while deliveries to Austria climbed to 274 GWh/d from 30 GWh/d. German flows to Poland were well under capacity in 2025, but have picked up so far this year because of much lower transport tariffs . Central and eastern Europe may need to maximise western flows to rebuild stocks ahead of winter 2026-27 , especially given that inventories in the region are also below average. By Hannah McMichael German storage sites' fill levels TWh Dutch storage sites' fill levels TWh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Spotlight content
Browse the latest thought leadership produced by our global team of experts.
Explore our natural gas products
Key price assessments
Argus prices are recognised by the market as trusted and reliable indicators of the real market value. Explore some of our most widely used and relevant price assessments.
