It’s October 2030. In hindsight, the vulnerabilities that triggered the third great natural gas crisis in eight years seem painfully obvious.

Industrial Energy Consumers of America Intensifies Natural Gas Infrastructure Advocacy The Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) recently filed its second-quarter lobbying report on July 11, coinciding with ongoing efforts to promote expanded natural gas infrastructure and streamlined electricity grid interconnection procedures. IECA's lobbying activities focus primarily on ensuring an adequate supply of natural gas

In the past two weeks, four liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes originally headed for Europe have been redirected to Asia. The cargoes, carried by the…

US LNG exports saw an uptick in August as European countries purchased higher volumes to shore up ahead of winter.

Russia’s crude output declined to the lowest in at least two and a half years in June as Ukraine attacked the nation’s oil infrastructure on an almost daily basis. But LNG production remains untouched and exports to Europe are at their highest level ever. Russia’s oil producers pumped an average of 8.928mn barrels a day of crude, which is 834,000 barrels a day below Russia’s required level for the month under an agreement with OPEC and its allies -- the lowest level since February 2024, Bloomberg reports. The June figure is 834,000 b/d less than Russia’s assigned OPEC quota and 61,000 b/d below May’s level, according to OPEC data. “A wave of Ukrainian attacks has pushed Russian refining runs to the lowest in more than 21 years, deepening a domestic fuel crunch and further squeezing the global market. Crude-processing rates have averaged 3.91mn barrels a day so far this month, the lowest level since March 2005, according to figures compiled by EA Analytics. That’s more than 1.4mn barrels a day below the year-ago average, the data show. The drop in production has prompted a ban on most diesel exports to the end of July, in addition to restrictions on gasoline and jet fuel shipments introduced earlier. The loss of diesel from a key global supplier has driven prices to multiyear highs, with the market already tightened by disruptions to Middle East flows.” Kyiv has mounted a sustained bombardment hitting all 30 of Russia’s major oil refineries, many of them repeatedly, in more than 50 attacks in the last 100 days, Bloomberg reports. As refined oil throughput falls and refinery runs fall to their lowest level in more than two decades, crude exports have jumped to a four-week average of 4.13mn b/d of seaborne crude shipments as of June 28 -- the highest since Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. LNG exports booming So far Ukraine has not targeted Russian LNG production and gas exports remain unsanctioned. As IntelliNews reported, Ukraine’s widening drone campaign against Russian energy infrastructure raises the prospect that Kyiv widen its campaign and target Russia’s LNG assets in the Arctic, which would cause a major energy crisis in Europe. The pressure from Brussels on Kyiv not to attack Russia’s LNG must be intense. Europe is in the midst of a mounting gas crisis having started this year with record low levels of gas in storage. It is importing every drop of Russian LNG it can get its hands on, despite promising to ban the import of Russian LNG from the start of next year. The imports from Russia’s Yamal LNG facility reached a record high in the first half of 2026. EU countries received 136 cargoes containing 9.97mn tonnes of LNG between January and June, a 16% increase year on year, according to data from commodities intelligence group Kpler. More than 97% of Yamal's LNG deliveries during the period went to EU ports, despite Brussels' stated desire to wean itself off Russian gas. Yamal LNG is controlled by Russia's Novatek (MOEX: NVTK), with China's CNPC and France's TotalEnergies (EPA: TTE) also holding stakes. Campaign group Urgewald estimated EU purchases from Yamal were worth €5.96bn ($6.82bn) in the first six months of the year, with France, Belgium and Spain the three largest destinations. Europe, the group said, "is absorbing almost the entire output of one of Russia's most strategically important LNG projects." The surge reflects a broader increase in Russian gas purchases as European companies scramble to meet the 80% full tanks benchmark by the November 1 EU deadline and front-load supplies before the EU's phased ban takes full effect. Russian pipeline gas imports via Druzhba pipeline increased 7% year on year between January and May 2026, while LNG imports rose 11%, according to the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators. Short-term Russian LNG contracts have been banned since April as part of the coming full-scale ban legislation, but long-term contracts can continue until January 1 2027, while the final deadline for ending all Russian pipeline gas imports – including those headed for Hungary and Slovakia – is September 2027. The EU's 2025 ban on trans-shipment of Russian LNG has also meant more Yamal cargoes remain in Europe rather than being re-exported to Asia. Oil refining battered but not broken Despite the dramatic nature of Ukraine’s campaign, the oil product sector remains battered but not broken, according to Sergey Vakulenko, an independent energy analyst argued in a recent note for Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Despite an unprecedented tempo of drone attacks and growing damage to the hard-to-replace specialist processing equipment that Ukraine is now specifically targeting, Russian refiners have repeatedly demonstrated an ability to carry out rapid repairs and restore at least part of their lost capacity quickly. In April and May, Ukraine launched 26 attacks on Russian refineries, matching the number recorded in August and September 2025, when Russia also suffered noticeable petrol shortages. The impact on processing has been more severe this year and the fuel crisis worse. Russian refinery throughput stood at about 5.2mn barrels a day at the end of March, but fell by as much as 700,000 barrels a day, or 13%, during April and May. That compares with a maximum decline of 480,000 barrels a day, or 9%, during the 2025 attacks. The damage is also becoming harder to fix. Vakulenko says NASA fire data suggest more Ukrainian drones are reaching their targets than ever before, increasingly striking not only primary processing units, which are relatively straightforward to repair, but complex isomerisation, cracking and hydrotreating units. Replacement components often have to be imported, lengthening repair times, while some damaged plants can maintain output only by producing lower-standard motor fuels. For example, the key Moscow refinery that was hit earlier this month will be offline for the rest of this year, according to reports. Yet Russia's refining system has proved remarkably resilient, says Vakulenko. After throughput dropped below 4mn barrels a day following a wave of attacks in late May, it rapidly recovered to more than 4.5mn barrels a day in the week beginning June 4, probably as several plants completed emergency repairs. Similarly, Ukrainian attacks briefly halved the number of loaded tankers leaving Russia's Baltic and Black Sea ports in June following the attacks on Primorsk and Ust-Luga, but traffic quickly recovered. Seaborne oil exports reached about 3.8mn barrels a day in the second half of April — some 500,000 barrels a day above the combined 2023-25 average. The pressure is nevertheless mounting. Attacks on the Moscow refinery at Kapotnya and Tatneft's (MOEX: TATN) TANECO complex in mid-June knocked out another 600,000 barrels a day of capacity. If previously damaged refineries cannot return quickly, Vakulenko estimates Russia's available refining capacity could fall as much as 28% below previous years. The geographical concentration of the damage is particularly problematic: all three refineries supplying Moscow by pipeline — Yaroslavl, Ryazan and Kstovo — have been hit. The capital and surrounding region account for about 14% of Russia's 53mn passenger cars, while 40% of the country's air passenger traffic passes through Moscow. For now, Ukraine's strikes have inflicted significant damage without delivering a knockout blow. But the cumulative destruction of increasingly complex refining equipment, combined with logistical bottlenecks and the Kremlin's politically sensitive policy of artificially suppressing petrol prices, is narrowing Moscow's room for manoeuvre. As Vakulenko warns, if the authorities can no longer prevent a petrol deficit, the question will shift from whether shortages emerge to "how they will organize the distribution of a scarce resource."

Industrial Energy Consumers of America Intensifies Advocacy for Natural Gas Infrastructure and Grid Connections The Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) submitted its second-quarter lobbying report on July 11, underscoring the organization's advocacy for expanded natural gas infrastructure and streamlined connections to the electrical grid. The IECA’s efforts focus on ensuring a sufficient supply of

The United Arab Emirates has resumed operations at its largest gas processing facility following an attack that halted output, even as exports of liquefied natural gas remain severely constrained by disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.

Natural gas prices have already doubled since the start of the war in the Middle East and are expected to rise higher as the last of Qatar’s LNG exports arrive at their destinations. Now everyone is switching to coal.

Europe bought every single shipment of LNG produced by Russia’s Yamal LNG plant in February -- first time since April 2018 that the EU accounted for 100% of exports from the Arctic facility.

UK government unveils broad package of maritime sanctions aimed at restricting Russia’s LNG exports, marking another significant hit to Moscow.

U.S. natural gas prices experienced a significant increase on Tuesday, with front-month futures climbing almost 13% to approximately $3.05 per million British thermal units. This marked a substantial single-day surge during the current winter season, outpacing modest gains observed in oil and metals markets. The natural gas market's sensitivity to factors like weather patterns, storage

TotalEnergies Expands U.S. Presence with PJM Interconnection Membership and Significant Investment TotalEnergies (TTE) has solidified its position in the North American energy landscape by joining PJM Interconnection, the largest wholesale electricity market in the region. This announcement, made on July 9, 2025, marks a key step for the company, allowing it to engage in both the physical and financial trading of electricity within PJM's expansive market, which serves 13 states and provides power to approximately 65 million customers. The move aligns with TotalEnergies' broader strategy of significant investment in the United States. Over the past three years, the company has committed $11 billion to projects spanning oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and, crucially, low-carbon electricity generation. This commitment is already translating into tangible results, with 10 gigawatts (GW) of onshore utility-scale solar, wind, and battery storage capacity either already operational or currently under construction within the U.S. TotalEnergies has also emerged as a dominant force in U.S. LNG exports, shipping out 10 million tons in 2024. This leadership position underscores the company’s vital role in the global energy market. Financial stability is also a factor, as demonstrated by S&P Global Ratings' assignment of an 'A+' issuer credit rating with a stable outlook for TotalEnergies Holdings USA, as of March 2025. For more information, visit [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/totalenergies-joins-pjm-interconnection-the-largest-power-grid-in-the-united-states-302501420.html](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/totalenergies-joins-pjm-interconnection-the-largest-power-grid-in-the-united-states-302501420.html) and connect with TotalEnergies on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

These projects, meanwhile, will "extend our dependency on natural gas for decades."

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says the incoming Trump administration should proceed cautiously as it considers proposals for new natural gas export terminals.