The world’s biggest LNG trader will raise its capacity by up to 12mn tonnes by the end of 2030, a Shell executive stated on June 11, Reuters reported.

The London-headquartered firm has a plethora of projects currently under construction that will raise its capacity of the super-chilled fuel by 12mn tonnes, Shell’s president of integrated gas Cedric Cremers told an audience at Wood Mackenzie’s Gas, LNG and the Future of Energy Conference held in London.

Among the projects currently being built are LNG Canada, Qatar’s North Field East (NFE) and North Field South expansion project, Nigeria’s NLNG Train 7 expansion, and Ruwais LNG in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Moreover, LNG Canada is just weeks away from exporting its first cargoes of the super-cooled gas.

According to Reuters, analysts believe Shell is currently purchasing about 70mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG via contracts. In 2024, the supermajor delivered close to 65mn tonnes of the super-chilled fuel to over 30 countries.

Meanwhile, Shell has also been bolstering its LNG portfolio by acquiring industry players. In June 2024, Shell agreed to buy Singapore’s Pavilion Energy, with the acquisition closed in April.

Shell will lean heavily on the world’s two biggest LNG exporters for its supply, with about 60% of new LNG supply expected to be bought from the US and Qatar by the end of the decade.

Last year, Shell forecast that demand for LNG would climb 50% globally by 2040 largely on the back of rising demand in Asia, particularly in China, which is the world’s largest importer of LNG and is in the midst of fuel switching from coal to natural gas to cut down greenhouse gas emissions.

In February, Shell doubled down on its bullish stance estimating that LNG demand would climb by about 60% by 2040 factoring in increased energy demand for Artificial Intelligence and data centers.