Reuters on Wednesday cited unnamed sources as saying that giant Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ADNOC are in talks to invest in American liquefied natural gas
LNG in a quest to compete with Qatar, which lost its ranking to the U.S. in January as the world’s largest LNG exporter. Citing “sources aware of the matter”, Reuters said Aramco and ADNOC are attempting to broaden competition with Qatar as demand for LNG is expected to grow by 50% by 2030. On the Aramco side, talks reportedly center around the Sempra Infrastructure Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project in Texas. Phase 1 is already producing, and phase 2 has been proposed for expansion.
Neither Aramco nor ADNOC have responded to Reuters requests for comment. Reports of these unconfirmed talks come after the Biden Administration in January paused approvals for new LNG projects, and as American LNG faces difficulties in securing financing for new projects. 'The message is If ESG focussed banks won't finance U.S. projects, someone will,' Reuters cited Kaushal Ramesh, Rystad Energy's vice president for LNG research, as saying. In early January, the U.S.