In 2026, global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply growth is set to accelerate by 7% or 40 billion cubic meters, which makes it the strongest increase since 2019, according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) latest quarterly Gas Market Report on Tuesday.
This growth is driven by new projects coming online in the US, Canada and Qatar, IEA said, adding that Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project is not considered a source in the current forecast.
On the demand side, the wave of LNG supply is set to allow a return to more significant import growth across a number of countries that are expected to reduce their purchases in 2025.
China, the world's largest LNG importer, is expected to act as the primary growth factor, swinging from an anticipated 11% LNG import contraction in 2025 to 25% growth in 2026, it said.
- Gas demand worldwide to climb in 2026
Global demand for natural gas is forecast to increase, after the decline in 2025, IEA noted.
This increase is expected to send total demand to a new all-time high, although there are some uncertainties, it said.
"Even though there was a relatively strong increase in global natural gas demand in 2024, it grew significantly slower in 2025, with only 1%," the report revealed.
This growth is almost all Europe and North America, as the natural gas demand subdued in Asia and declined in Eurasia.
Market fundamentals were tight in 2025 due to geopolitical conflict in the Middle East and partly lower Russian piped gas to the European Union, with the conflict between Iran and Israel fueling strong price volatility.
At first the increase in prices was driven by the fear that the conflict could lead to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical oil and LNG chokepoint, but the higher prices were also supported by actual disruption of production and physical trade flows.
However, following the ceasefire the prices returned close to their pre-crisis levels, IEA stated.
By Humeyra Ayaz
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr