Top 10 Global LNG Shipping Companies

LNG has long been a priority business segment for Gazprom. In 2018, Gazprom’s global LNG sales reached an impressive 3.88 million tons, establishing it as a heavyweight player in the global LNG market. Prior to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Gazprom was the largest LNG supplier on the European continent. The renowned Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were also independently surveyed and constructed by the company. 6. BP (British Petroleum) Headquarters: London, United Kingdom BP is a long-established company in the oil and gas sector, possessing robust supply and transportation capabilities worldwide. Leveraging its brand strength, BP is committed to delivering innovative solutions to the global LNG market. As the largest shareholder and partner of Shah Deniz—one of Azerbaijan’s largest condensate gas fields—BP supplies over 25 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually to the European market. In Asia and Africa, BP is actively pursuing LNG cooperation projects. In Guangdong Province, China, BP holds nearly one-third of the equity stake in the Dapeng LNG receiving terminal. In Senegal and Mauritania, BP collaborates with Kosmos Energy to comprehensively advance liquefied natural gas projects across the region. 5. TOTAL Headquarters: Paris, France With over 40 years of experience in the LNG industry, Total (now TotalEnergies) operates across production, liquefaction, marketing, and transportation—making it one of the few companies capable of integrating the entire LNG value chain. Statistics show that in 2020, Total delivered approximately 40 million tons of LNG to markets worldwide. Additionally, the company consistently allocates R&D funding to maritime LNG transportation projects. Its LNG portfolio includes Yamal LNG and Ichthys, both located off the coast of Australia. 4. CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) Headquarters: Beijing, China CNPC’s LNG terminals are primarily located in Hebei, Jiangsu, and Liaoning provinces. With significantly enhanced operational capacity, CNPC achieved an LNG throughput of 15.13 million tons in 2018 alone—a 45% increase over 2017. Among its current LNG projects is the Tangshan LNG terminal, which features a dedicated jetty, elevated pipelines, and a regasification facility, with a total storage capacity of 640,000 cubic meters and an annual jetty throughput exceeding 10 million tons. 3. ROYAL DUTCH SHELL Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands As a pioneer in the LNG market, Shell has participated in global LNG projects for over 50 years. In 1964, the world’s first LNG plant—located in Algeria—entrusted Shell with LNG transportation and partial sales responsibilities. Through decades of operation and accumulation, Shell has assumed a leadership position across multiple facets of the LNG business and has established LNG plants or hubs in more than 10 countries, including Brunei, Oman, and Nigeria. 2. CHEVRON Headquarters: San Ramon, California, USA Chevron CEO John Watson predicted at the 18th International LNG Conference and Exhibition in 2016: By 2035, the global LNG market will grow by nearly 130%.

Layoffs, Production Expansion, and Long-Term Vision: Strategies of Oil Majors Amid Low Oil Prices

Major U.S. oil companies are advancing initiatives across these three areas, whereas Shell and BP are currently focusing only on the first two—largely because their lower stock valuations make mergers and acquisitions more difficult to execute. This trend stands in sharp contrast to the pandemic-era period of low oil prices, when rapidly declining oil demand left companies uncertain about when demand would recover; consequently, they cut capital expenditures and delayed large-scale projects. Beyond this Bloomberg article, industry expert Irina Slav also wrote on October 30, 2025, for the website OilPrice.com, noting that third-quarter earnings reports from major oil companies are now being released—and natural gas, especially LNG, is the central focus. Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, and Chevron are all undertaking significant investments and expansion plans to meet surging global electricity demand. Despite falling international oil prices and expectations of oversupply, major oil companies anticipate increasing oil and gas output in 2025 and 2026—indicating strong confidence in demand elasticity, a stance that sharply contrasts with some other forecasts. According to a preliminary earnings overview released by Reuters, analysts appear particularly interested in what major oil companies plan for spending, production, and potential acquisitions in 2026. They want to know how Chevron’s merger with Hess is progressing, what ExxonMobil’s next acquisition target might be, and how European majors will manage share buybacks and dividends amid lower oil prices. Last but not least, analysts are eager to hear about these supermajors’ natural gas strategies. As artificial intelligence drives a surge in global electricity demand, natural gas has reemerged into the spotlight as a ‘best-of-both-worlds’ energy source—more reliable than wind and solar, yet cleaner-burning than coal. For instance, in an early October 2025 transaction update, Shell stated that its natural gas business would bolster its overall third-quarter performance. During the quarter, Shell reported steady growth in its LNG business. Earlier, the company announced plans to elevate its LNG operations to top strategic priority over the next decade, in anticipation of rising demand. BP is likewise prioritizing natural gas and LNG, recently signing a contract with Baker Hughes to build a new LNG plant in Indonesia and winning an arbitration case against Venture Global concerning undelivered LNG cargoes. At the end of October 2025, TotalEnergies lifted force majeure on its Mozambique LNG project—even though the project’s cost increased by $4.5 billion; once completed, the facility will have an LNG production capacity of 43 million tons per year. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil plans to announce its Final Investment Decision (FID) for its Mozambique LNG project by the end of Q1 2026. Another of the supermajor’s LNG projects—the Golden Pass LNG facility—is expected to commence operations by the end of 2025. Chevron, meanwhile, is concentrating on trading: it has just signed an LNG supply agreement with Energy Transfer to deliver 1 million tons annually from the Lake Charles facility, bringing its total 20-year procurement commitment to 3 million tons per year.

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