The world’s largest LNG trader, Shell, will prioritise its trade operations of the super-chilled fuel over the next decade, the company’s CEO Wael Sawan declared on September 29. 

Shell remains bullish on LNG, with Sawan stressing the super-cooled gas’s ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as countries commit to fuel switching and substitute gas for coal. Earlier this year it raised its forecast for growth in LNG demand to 60% by 2040. 

The world’s two most populous countries India and China are both stepping on the gas in their shift towards LNG. New Delhi has announced that it is seeking to increase the proportion of natural gas in its energy mix from its current level of 6% to 15% by the end of the decade. 

Indeed, India has been ramping up its infrastructure to support gas playing a bigger role. The country added its eighth LNG import terminal this year and demand for LNG is projected to rise from 37 mn tonnes per year by 2030 to 88mn tpy by 2050, according to a Wood Mackenzie report. 

Meanwhile, China remains the world’s largest importer of LNG, but fortunes for the super-chilled fuel in the country remain murky. The country’s LNG imports are projected to plummet in 2025 between 6% and 11% from 2024’s total of 76.65 mn tonnes.