Asia Energy Tour: Takeaways on Global LNG: Tight in Near-Term, but Long-Term Outlook Looser on Supply Additions and Soft Demand

This report continues our takeaways from the recent Asia Energy Tour, summarizing views on the global LNG market from meetings with corporates, policymakers, and industry experts. In the near term, there was a near-unanimous view that supply disruptions in the Middle East are likely to persist, keeping prices elevated given historically low NW European gas storage, while market participants also debated how to cap price upside, noting demand destruction has been softer than expected and that demand has even risen in some markets such as India. Over the longer term, the global LNG supply/demand backdrop could loosen as supply additions outpace demand growth. Energy security, rather than price, drove many large buyers to diversify supply and support new project FIDs, with Japan developing an "SPA as insurance" approach. China's long-term LNG demand outlook has turned more measured under a prudent policy stance focused on coal and renewables, with buyers deferring spot exposure and long-t