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TotalEnergies predicts increased competition between Europe and Asia for LNG in 2025

According to TotalEnergies CFO Jean-Pierre Sbraire, tensions in the gas market in Europe should lead to increased competition between Europe and Asia for additional vessels with energy resources

MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/. French energy company TotalEnergies expects increased competition for liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies between Europe, which will try to replenish low gas reserves in its storage facilities by next winter, and Asia in 2025. At the same time, global LNG capacity will increase by only 5% this year, the company's top executives said during a conference call.

According to TotalEnergies CFO Jean-Pierre Sbraire, tensions in the gas market in Europe should lead to increased competition between Europe and Asia for additional vessels with energy resources, and this will lead to increased arbitrage opportunities for flexible cargo transportation between the US, Europe, and Asia.

The current winter is expected to be colder and at the end of the heating season Europe will have low gas reserves, he noted. The suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine is also a factor that will contribute to the tightening of the market situation.

At the same time, the introduction of new LNG capacities in the world this year will amount to only about 20 mln tons (+5% compared to 2024), which will not be able to change the trend on the market, TotalEnergies CEO of Patrick Pouyanne said.

As a result, there will be great volatility in the market, and in the Q2 of 2025, the price of gas at the TTF hub in Europe could exceed $15 per mln British thermal units, TotalEnergies CEO added. According to him, if Europe begins to refill its storage facilities too actively and aggressively and does not wait for some time, this will lead to price growth in the region and purchases of LNG in Asia at high prices.

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