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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Lebanon ceasefire extended by 3 weeks: Trump
Lebanon ceasefire extended by 3 weeks: Trump
Washington, 23 April (Argus) — Israel will suspend military operations in Lebanon for another three weeks beyond the existing ceasefire deadline of 26 April, President Donald Trump said on Thursday following talks between Israeli and Lebanese envoys at the White House. The ceasefire negotiated a week ago was due to expire at 8pm ET (20:00 GMT) on 26 April, so a three-week extension will push it until 17 May. Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Hezbollah militants launched drone and missile attacks against Israel last month, opening a new front in the US-Israel war against Iran and drawing a heavy-handed response from Israel against civilian areas and infrastructure in Lebanon. Israel and Hezbollah exchanged small scale attacks in recent days, despite the ceasefire. The ceasefire agreement allows Israel to "take all necessary measures in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks". But Trump said on 17 April that he "prohibited" Israel from carrying out attacks in Lebanon. The Lebanon ceasefire agreement on 16 April came in response to Tehran's demand for Israel to cease hostilities, as part of a broader US-Iran push for a negotiated end to the war. "It'll be a wonderful thing to get (a Lebanon-Israel peace agreement) worked out simultaneously with what we're doing in Iran", Trump said on Thursday. But prospects for a US-Iran agreement look more remote now than they did a week ago. The strait of Hormuz remains largely closed to navigation, and the US naval blockade of Iranian trade continues despite a ceasefire that Trump said on 21 April will continue indefinitely. There is no date set for the next round of US-Iran talks. Trump in recent days said that Iran's leadership is fractured over a possible deal with the US. He also downplayed Iran's ability to control the strait of Hormuz and declared that it was, in fact, the US that retained control over that waterway since "no ship can enter or leave without the approval of the United States Navy". Trump also said in a social media post on Thursday that he was not "'anxious' to end the War (if you would even call it that!) with Iran, please be advised that I am possibly the least pressured person ever to be in this position." Iran's president Massoud Pezeshkian, parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and other officials appeared to respond to Trump's claims of fractures in Tehran with similarly worded social media posts insisting that Iran's leadership is in fact united. The US naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman and across the Indian Ocean — in effect since 13 April — has resulted in the capture of three Iranian vessels and has forced 31 Iranian ships to return to ports in Iran, the Pentagon said on Thursday. Iran has responded to the US actions by seizing two containerships owned by Swiss firm MSC that were transiting the strait of Hormuz. Iran's response does not amount to a ceasefire violation, the White House said on Wednesday. Trump reiterated on Thursday that the US public should be prepared for a conflict with Iran of long duration, similar to the Vietnam war or the Second World War — which he said was justified by the need to eliminate Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program. US oil executives are beginning to voice concerns over the inconsistent messaging from the White House about the possible duration and impacts from the confrontation with Iran, which they said is deterring an appropriate supply response from US oil producers. "If the administration feels that we need to prolong the conflict, it needs to better articulate the long-term strategic goal," an oil executive said in an anonymous survey compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and released on Thursday. "There is no way to predict the outcome of the war with Iran," another upstream executive said. "The effect it will have on domestic oil production depends on how long the strait remains closed, and that is how long Iran can control the movement through the strait." By Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US’ Golden Pass LNG exports first cargo
US’ Golden Pass LNG exports first cargo
Houston, 22 April (Argus) — QatarEnergy (QE) and ExxonMobil's 18.1mn t/yr (2.4bn ft³/d) Golden Pass LNG terminal in southeast Texas exported its first cargo on Wednesday, the joint venture partners said. QE's 174,000m³ Al Qaiyyah LNG carrier departed Golden Pass after arriving for the terminal's first export on 20 April. Market participants have been awaiting the ramp-up of Golden Pass following the loss of around 1.6mn t/week of LNG from the de facto closure of the strait of Hormuz since the end of February. QE's 77mn t/yr Ras Laffan terminal in Qatar also suffered damage in an Iranian attack in March, likely losing 12.8mn t/yr of capacity for three to five years. It is unclear where Al Qaiyyah will deliver the cargo. The ship had a declared draft of 11.6m, consistent with other fully laden LNG carriers departing the US Gulf coast, Kpler data show. Golden Pass began producing LNG on 30 March, as the terminal ramps up the first of its three liquefaction trains. But the facility's loading rate is not yet apparent because the first shipment likely included a partial re-export of the facility's cool-down cargo, which arrived in December. Feedgas flows to Golden Pass have averaged 270mn ft³/d over the last seven days, indicating train 1 is operating at around a third of its capacity. Up to 15pc of feedgas is consumed or burned in the liquefaction process. The 174,000m³ HL Sea Eagle , controlled by ExxonMobil, has been holding off the Texas coast since 20 April and could load the firm's first cargo from the terminal. By Tray Swanson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Hormuz remains blocked under new ceasefire: Update 3
Hormuz remains blocked under new ceasefire: Update 3
Updates with changes throughout Washington, 21 April (Argus) — The strait of Hormuz remains largely closed to navigation and the US naval blockade of Iranian trade continues despite a ceasefire that President Donald Trump said on Tuesday will continue indefinitely, to give Iranian leaders time to craft a proposal to end the conflict. The US will "extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other," Trump wrote in a social media post at 4:09pm ET (20:09 GMT). The earlier US-Iran ceasefire was scheduled to expire at 7:50pm ET (23:50 GMT) on Tuesday, Pakistan said earlier in the day. The Trump administration is casting the extension of the ceasefire with Iran and maintaining the naval blockade as economically damaging for Tehran. "In a matter of days, Kharg island storage will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in," treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday. "Constraining Iran's maritime trade directly targets the regime's primary revenue lifelines." But the Trump administration has no immediate solution for addressing much larger production shut-ins across the Mideast Gulf and the resulting spike in oil and gas prices globally. Global oil demand has fallen by about 4mn b/d since the start of the war in the Mideast Gulf, compared with supply losses of around 12mn b/d, trading firm Vitol's chief executive Russell Hardy said on Tuesday. Uncertainty over the course of the US-Iran confrontation pushed May Nymex WTI up by 3pc to $98.48/bl on Tuesday. US energy secretary Chris Wright, who over the weekend suggested that oil prices would remain elevated through 2027, has had to change his messaging after Trump insisted on Monday that prices would decline as soon as he secures a deal with Iran, which he suggested would happen quickly. "I don't know the future of energy prices," Wright told a Senate panel on Tuesday, but he added that US retail gasoline prices "peaked about a week or so ago". Tehran, too, appears to believe that it holds the upper hand in the confrontation with Washington. "If the US wants to maintain the shadow of war, it must also consider the strait of Hormuz completely closed," Iran's Tasnim news agency, which is linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said in an opinion piece soon after Trump's ceasefire announcement. Officials in Tehran did not immediately react to Trump's announcement of a ceasefire extension. Tehran did not request an extension and will not reopen the strait of Hormuz as long as the US naval blockade continues "and, if necessary, (Iran) will break the blockade by force", Tasnim said. Trump said Pakistani leaders — who are mediating the peace talks — asked him to hold off on attacks so that Iran's leadership — which he claimed was "fractured" — could come up with a "unified proposal". Trump said the US military will continue its naval blockade against Iran and remain "ready and able". The US naval blockade, in effect since 13 April, has forced 28 Iranian vessels to turn around and return to ports in Iran, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. The US Navy seized a tanker carrying Iranian crude in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday, two days after disabling and boarding an Iran-flagged vessel in the Arabian Sea. "Blockading Iranian ports is an act of war and thus a violation of the ceasefire," Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said hours before Trump's announcement. "Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation," Araqchi said. "I sincerely hope that both sides will continue to observe the ceasefire and be able to conclude a comprehensive ‘Peace Deal' during the second round of talks scheduled at Islamabad for a permanent end to the conflict," Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a social media post Tuesday, after Trump's announcement. Sharif did not specify when the US and Iranian delegates will meet next. US vice president JD Vance, who led the unsuccessful round of talks with an Iranian delegation on 11-12 April, is no longer planning to head to Pakistan on Tuesday for another round, the White House said after Trump's ceasefire announcement. By Haik Gugarats and Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Trump extends ceasefire with Iran: Update 2
Trump extends ceasefire with Iran: Update 2
Updates with changes throughout Washington, 21 April (Argus) — President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would extend indefinitely a two-week ceasefire with Iran, calling off threats to resume "bombing" soon to give Iranian leaders time to craft a proposal to end the conflict. The US will "extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other," Trump wrote in a social media post at 4:09pm ET (20:09 GMT). Trump said Pakistani leaders — who are mediating the peace talks — asked him to hold off on attacks so that Iran's leaders and representatives could come up with a "unified proposal". The US military will continue its naval blockade against Iran and remain "ready and able", Trump said. Trump earlier on Tuesday told CNBC that Iran "gave the OK" to resume talks in Pakistan, adding that they "had no choice" and that "Iran can get themselves in a very good footing if they make a deal." Tehran has been insisting for the past two days that it is not prepared to resume talks with the US, citing the ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian trade. Iran has yet to agree to join the talks in Islamabad, Pakistani information minister Attaullah Tarar said in a social media post on Tuesday. "Pakistan has made sincere efforts to convince the Iranian leadership to participate in the second round of talks and these efforts continue," Tarar said. The US Navy seized a tanker carrying Iranian crude in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday, two days after disabling and seizing an Iran-flagged vessel in the Arabian Sea. The US-Iran ceasefire was scheduled to expire at 7:50pm ET (23:50 GMT) on Tuesday, Pakistan's Tarar said earlier in the day. Trump's public statements over the past two days have focused largely on revisiting his reasons for starting a war against Iran on 28 February, rather than explaining how the conflict might end. Stock markets are doing fine, he said on Tuesday. "Do you want to see a bad stock market? Try blowing up the Middle East, and then Europe, and then they come for us. We're not going to let that happen." By Haik Gugarats and Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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