Equinor plans to expand its global LNG portfolio to between 10 million and 15 million tons a year in the early 2030s, targeting European and Asian buyers left short on supply by the Strait of Hormuz blockade, Reuters reported Wednesday. The company expects to announce a second Asian supply agreement this week, Equinor LNG vice president Ingvar Egeland said.
The Hormuz passage normally carries about a fifth of global LNG supply, and the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has blocked Qatar and the UAE from exporting most of theirs through it, pushing Asian buyers toward new sources.
Equinor is “in dialogue with many counterparties, especially in India and also places in Southeast Asia,” Reuters quoted Egelands saying, concentrating on state energy companies and fertilizer producers. The company signed a 15-year supply deal with India’s Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemicals Corp in May.
Equinor lifted its first U.S. cargo from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal in August aboard the carrier Isabella, bound for Europe under long-term agreements signed with Cheniere in 2022 and 2023 that will supply roughly 3.5 million tons a year. Helle Østergaard Kristiansen, Equinor’s senior vice president for gas and power, called it a milestone that strengthens the company’s position as a reliable supplier. Equinor expects the U.S. volumes to help double its global LNG portfolio to 7 million tons annually by 2030. Norway’s Hammerfest plant currently supplies half of its existing volumes.
The push to 10-15 million tons in the early 2030s will draw on new supply from the U.S. East Coast, Canada’s west coast, South America and African producers (excluding Tanzania’s delayed project), and will include cargoes priced against Brent crude to diversify Equinor’s pricing exposure.
Equinor is pursuing a parallel expansion in oil production, targeting a 27% increase in international output to 950,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day by 2030, led by new production from the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and Angola.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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