Contrary to forecasts of an LNG supply glut as soon as this year, Italy’s energy major Eni expects a “very finely balanced” market in 2026 as European demand is set to remain high after the winter to fill depleted inventories, and Asian consumption is expected to rebound with softer prices.
“Europe has very low storages, and we need to refill it in the summer,” Cristian Signoretto, Director of the Global Gas & LNG Portfolio at Eni, told Reuters on the sidelines of the LNG2026 conference in Doha, Qatar.
Europe’s natural gas storage sites are depleting at the fastest pace in years, suggesting stocks would end this winter at their lowest level since 2022. End-of-winter supply in storage at the lowest in four years means that Europe will need very high imports in the shoulder seasons and the summer to replenish the stocks to adequate levels of 80-90% full storage by November 2026, as per the EU regulations.
Apart from the expected higher demand in Europe, Eni’s Signoretto sees a rebound in Asian demand, leaving small supply buffers this year.
A late-winter cold spell or a summer heat wave in Asia or Europe could put Europe “in a tricky situation to be able to pull gas for European storages,” Signoretto told Reuters.
“So we still see 2026 as very finely balanced,” the executive added.
Meanwhile, analysts and forecasters say that the LNG supply surge is set to begin as soon as this year.
New LNG export projects coming online and ramp-ups of recently commissioned facilities are expected to drive a 10% jump in global LNG supply this year, as the market shifts from tightness to abundance.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects global supply growth to accelerate in 2026 to more than 7%, its fastest pace since 2019.
The supply wave is set to reduce price pressures and incentivize additional demand in price-sensitive consumers, especially in the fast-growing energy markets in Asia, according to the agency.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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