Vitol executive: Increased LNG supply in the coming decade will put pressure on the LNG market

The head of LNG for global trader Vitol, who spoke on Wednesday, said that a rapid increase in LNG supply in this decade will put downward pressure on the prices.

Pablo Galante Escobar, speaking at the LNG2026 Conference in Doha (Qatar), said: "We are experiencing an unprecedented increase in the supply from 2024 to 2030. This will?stress the market."

The LNG supply coming online between 2026-2029 has raised fears of a glut, which could lead to lower prices. Projects such as Golden Pass LNG along the U.S. Gulf Coast or Qatar's North Field Expansion are expected to provide significant volumes.

Escobar's comments echoed those made by Cristian Signoretto earlier in the day, Director for Global Gas and LNG of Italian energy giant Eni. Signoretto predicted that additional LNG supplies would further soften the prices of 2027 and 2028. However, project delays remain a risk.

Signoretto predicted that the LNG market would remain finely balanced in 2014 due to the thinned out supply buffers, low European inventory and recovering Asian demand.

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QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al-Kaabi stated earlier this week that a glut of LNG could be turned into a shortage in 2030 due to the growing demand for?electricity from AI and data centers, as well as rising fuel consumption in Asia and Europe.

Energy executives at this event expressed a positive?long-term outlook on LNG. However, opinions differed as to how much a new wave of supply would impact prices later in the decade.

The executives pointed out that Asia would be the primary driver of future growth in LNG demand, despite the fact that the region's LNG consumption will decline by 2025 due to price sensitivity and the competition from alternative fuels. (Reporting and writing by Emily Chow in Doha, Sudarshan Varadhan and Bernadette and Christopher Cushing)

(source: Reuters)