Tokyo Gas Warns Prolonged Iran War Could Keep Spot LNG Prices Elevated

Tokyo Gas said the conflict involving Iran has tightened the global spot LNG market and warned that prices could remain elevated if the war continues, underscoring ongoing uncertainty for LNG buyers.

(Reuters) — The Middle East conflict has significantly tightened supplies on the spot liquefied natural gas market and the upward pressure on prices could persist if the war drags on, an executive at Tokyo Gas said on July 30.

• "We will seek to optimize supply and demand through our global LNG trading capabilities," Go Soga, an executive officer for Tokyo Gas, told reporters.
• Tokyo Gas is Japan's biggest city gas provider and one of the country's biggest buyers of LNG.
• It operates an LNG trading company in Singapore in coordination with offices in London and Tokyo.
• The utility aims to expand the trading business into a growth driver, targeting annual trading volume of 5 million metric tons by 2030.
• Trading volume in fiscal 2025 that ended in March has already reached the high-4 million-ton range, Soga said.
• Tokyo Gas reported a 65% decline in April to June, first-quarter net profit, mainly due to the absence of one-off gains booked a year earlier.
• Higher selling prices for its U.S. shale gas business helped boost revenue, Atsushi Torii, general manager of accounting department, said.
• Results for the U.S. shale gas business for January to March are reflected in its first-quarter earnings.
• The average Henry Hub gas price in that period rose to about $5 per million British thermal units from $3.6 a year earlier, Torii said.
• Tokyo Gas hedges about 75% of its gas price exposure.
• The remaining unhedged portion contributed to higher profit, Torii added.