Shell Warns 36 Million Lost LNG Tons Are Draining Market Buffers

Baker Hughes has agreed two large Venezuela deals to redevelop gas and oil infrastructure, according to an announcement in early October 2026. One agreement sets up an alliance to repair and expand Venezuela's natural gas network, a step toward possible future LNG exports, while a separate partnership supports new upstream and midstream oil and gas projects across the country. The practical test is whether the alliance with PDVSA, Lindsayca and Fulcrum and the MOU with New Stratus quickly convert into specific, OFAC cleared contracts with disclosed scope and value. The Venezuela work fits alongside Baker Hughes' existing Industrial & Energy Technology orders, including data center power orders of US$2.2b and US$7.1b of IET orders in Q2 2026, rather than replacing that story. Baker Hughes is a US based energy services provider with a reported market value of about $57.0b.

BKV Corporation announced that a wholly owned subsidiary has executed an equipment supply contract with a Tier 1 Supplier for natural gas-fired power generation equipment for its prospective power generation project in Texas, backed by a backstop agreement with a leading investment-grade hyperscaler that is also the intended off-taker. Under the backstop agreement, the hyperscaler has agreed to reimburse a portion of BKV's costs associated with the equipment and related project work, covering approximately 90% of the payments owed by BKV through March 31, 2027 under the equipment supply contract. The agreement supports procurement of long-lead-time equipment including gas turbines, reheat steam turbines, reheat heat recovery steam generators and a plant distributed control system, along with related auxiliary equipment and services. If BKV and the investment-grade hyperscaler have not reached mutually agreeable offtake arrangements by March 31, 2027, BKV may terminate the equipment supply contract at that time and have no further payment obligations thereunder. The equipment supply contract provides for approximately 1,200 megawatts of power generation equipment, with deliveries beginning in September 2028, supporting BKV's power growth strategy and closed-loop platform spanning natural gas production, power generation and carbon capture.

Equinor expects its marketing, midstream, and processing division to have earned more than the company's guidance of $400 million for the third quarter, driven by very strong refining margins and high proceeds from oil and LNG trading. The Norwegian energy major said in a quarterly update on Wednesday that unusually strong European refining margins combined with optimisation of equity and third-party LNG trading are expected to contribute positively to the result, with an average Dated Brent price of $97 per barrel for the quarter. In Norway operations, Equinor estimated its realized liquids price for the E&P Norway division was in the range of $97 to $99 per barrel in the third quarter, while the preliminary internal gas transfer price for the quarter is $18.07 per million British thermal units. For comparison, Equinor realized a European gas price of $15.8 per MMBtu in the second quarter of 2026, up 32% from a year earlier, and a liquids price of $97.9 per barrel, a 55% jump year over year. Equinor is reporting full third-quarter results on October 28.

Shell said on Wednesday it expects its indicative refining margin to leap to $42 per barrel, nearly double the $24 per barrel recorded in the previous quarter, setting the energy giant up for a bumper quarter in its products division. The company will release its full third-quarter results at the end of October, and Garry White, chief investment commentator at Raymond James, said the update suggests another strong set of results is in prospect and that a further earnings beat could be on the cards in the September quarter. The margin expansion follows G7 leaders agreeing to release a 100m emergency supply of diesel and oil in a bid to stave off a brewing supply crisis, with diesel prices smashing the 200p a litre mark in Britain for the first time ever last week. The surge in refining profitability will help offset softer performance in Shell's chemicals division and absorb roughly $2.5bn in expected cash outflows tied to German emissions certificate payments, though summer heatwaves across western Europe led to low water levels on the Rhine River and forced Shell to curtail processing at its flagship Rheinland refinery in Germany, pushing overall refinery utilisation down to between 93 per cent and 97 per cent compared to 102 per cent in the second quarter. Elsewhere, Shell reported a boost in gas production following the completed acquisition of ARC Resources, raising its integrated gas production outlook to 740,000–780,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, after revealing the $16.4bn deal for the Canadian shale producer in April.

Maybank Securities (Thailand), or MST, hosted a special seminar, "Maybank Exclusive Meeting with Minister of Energy," inviting Ekkanat Prompan, Minister of Energy, to share his vision with institutional investors as they prepare for the energy transition and surging electricity demand from data centers and the digital economy. Ekkanat said Thailand's energy policy is advancing under the principles of clean energy, supply security, and fair prices, with the national Power Development Plan, or PDP 2026, as a key mechanism. It targets raising the share of renewable energy to 50% in the first 10 years, while opening the door to energy storage systems and smart grids, and preparing to launch a direct clean power trading market, or Direct PPA, to attract investment from big tech and data centers. On power generation, large private power producers, or IPPs, remain a crucial cog in maintaining the stability of Thailand's power system. In petroleum exploration and production, or E&P, the government aims to increase domestic energy sources, diversify supply sources, partner with neighboring countries, and promote biofuels including ethanol and biodiesel to cut crude oil imports and reduce risks from Spot LNG volatility. Based on these policy directions, MST identifies four investment themes to watch: renewable energy, energy storage systems, and smart grids; Direct PPA, data centers, and digital infrastructure; energy security such as E&P and natural gas; and IPPs and traditional power plants. It recommends selecting companies with quality assets, stable cash flows, and readiness to adapt to new forms of energy business.