LNG has proven to be a versatile, resilient and flexible source of energy, and elevated geopolitical uncertainty has highlighted the crucial role the fuel will continue to play—especially given its increased diversification—industry leaders told a panel at the LNG2026 conference.
“You don’t have to go too far back into 2022, in which we saw pipeline imports into Europe drop significantly. And we’ve seen firsthand how the LNG market specifically reacted to that. European markets increased LNG imports by over 60%. And naturally, we saw the price response that we’re all very familiar with, but it’s really quite shocking to imagine how a country or region can respond as quickly as they did,” said Kirk Johnson, senior vice president, global operations, ConocoPhillips.
The combination of regional instability, geopolitics and policy shifts have all come together to create volatility across the global landscape, with risks of supply shortages creating a price response. And the potential for greater supply in the next five years could also develop a price reaction, according to the industry leaders at a panel called ‘Geopolitics and the Future of LNG’.
However, Johnson noted that, over the next 5–7 years, more than 50% of the projects that are out there globally are likely to face some sort of delay, especially when considering the level of global investment within a finite period.
“It shows there’s going to be a lot of events globally that move markets, but within a free market, if it’s allowed to do as it should, there will a price response, and there will be an equal and opposite supply response,” Johnson added, stating it shows the resilience and adaptability that exists.
Peter Clarke, head of global LNG at ExxonMobil, underscored the message that “as an industry, we’ve proven how critical LNG is to supply stability, in stable times but also to weather supply disruption”.
Clarke talked up LNG’s role in replacing pipeline gas and providing greater optionality and the speed to respond to market disruptions, referencing how Europe was able to wean itself off its reliance on Russian piped supplies.
“It’s about taking and developing gas energy supplies where the resources are abundant and then moving them to where it’s needed,” he added, noting the importance of developing a robust and diversified portfolio.
The panellists also highlighted the fact that, when there is a supply disruption, consumers really rely on big suppliers that have strong capability in shipping and scale, very much like Qatar, which has an oversized impact in in stabilising supply.
Cederic Cremers, president, integrated gas, Shell, underlined the point, saying “geopolitical risk has actually shown the strengths of LNG as a versatile, flexible and reliable source that is able to manage these kinds of challenges in terms of geopolitical risks and the invasion of Ukraine and what that did to Europe.” LNG from suppliers such as Qatar stepped up to meet that challenge, Cremers pointed out.
“The reliability of the global diversification that we offer to customers, the discipline to deliver day in, day out and meet our promises to them,” Cremers noted, is how trust and confidence are built.
Stéphane Michel, president of gas, renewables and power, TotalEnergies, added that the big lesson of the Fukushima disaster is that Japan avoided a blackout because of LNG. “Because that country lost 30% of its supply in a day and our system is so flexible that the LNG industry was able to save such a country,” he added.
“The truth is, I never imagined that that could happen in such a big market as Europe,” he said, referencing the Russia crisis. “We didn’t suffer any blackout, and I think that’s quite remarkable. We were able to completely shift all our portfolio from Asia to Europe."
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