Abu Dhabi's XRG Weighs Stake in Shell-Led LNG Canada

GE Vernova closed its most recent quarter with a $176 billion backlog, with management guiding to $200 billion in 2027, as surging AI power demand drives turbine capacity rationing. Q2 orders came in at $24.2 billion, up 88% organically, and the company signed 20 GW of gas contracts in the quarter alone, expecting at least 125 GW of gas equipment under contract by year-end 2026. CEO Scott Strazik told analysts the company expects to be "mostly sold out through 2030," with 2031 slots already filling, while annual turbine output scales from 20 GW in Q3 2026 to 24 GW in 2028 and 30 GW in 2030. Q2 free cash flow hit $5.1 billion, exceeding all of full-year 2025, prompting management to raise 2026 free cash flow guidance to $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion from a prior range of $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion, double the quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share, and lift buyback authorization to $10 billion. Electrification orders grew 66% organically at a book-to-bill of 1.7x, with data center orders crossing $5 billion year-to-date, more than double the entire 2025 total, though the Wind segment remains a drag with revenue down 10% in Q2 and roughly $400 million of full-year segment EBITDA losses expected.

Saudi Aramco's 7 million b/d East-West Pipeline resumed pumping at a low rate after an 11-day shutdown, potentially allowing Yanbu exports to restart, but restoring the pre-attack flow of around 4 million b/d could take six to eight weeks. Even with the restart, unprecedented freight rates and relentlessly rising diesel prices still point toward structural tightness, with ICE Brent futures sliding toward the $100 per barrel mark. Daily earnings on a Gulf-to-China route soared to $1.2 million this week, and TotalEnergies fixed the Kuwait Prosperity tanker last week at an astonishing rate of $75 million, equivalent to $38 per barrel, with similar offers this week jumping closer to $100 million. Freight now makes up at least 25% of the total cost of crude delivered to Asia, up from 5-6% in 2025, pushing Chinese refiners importing Brazilian crude to switch from VLCCs to 1-million-barrel Suezmaxes. Separately, Apollo Global Management is evaluating a full or partial sale of Energos Infrastructure, which operates 13 floating LNG vessels, at a valuation of more than $3 billion, with ADNOC's investment arm reportedly keen to buy a stake of up to 50%.

ExxonMobil has raised its annual liquefied natural gas sales target to 50 million tons by 2030, doubling its current production volume and up from its previous goal of 40 million tons per year. Global LNG sales totaled 422 million tons in 2025, according to Shell, implying Exxon currently holds about a 6% share of the market; the new target would give it roughly 10% of the market by 2030, based on Exxon's view that global LNG demand will reach 500 million tons by then. Exxon's portfolio includes Golden Pass LNG in the U.S., PNG LNG and Papua LNG in Papua New Guinea, Coral South Floating LNG in Mozambique, Gorgan LNG in Australia, and North Field East in Qatar. The business has faced headwinds this year: the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has affected LNG flows from Qatar, and two of Exxon's minority-owned LNG trains in Qatar were damaged by Iranian attacks and will be out of commission for a few years for repairs, though production began at the Golden Pass facility with QatarEnergy earlier this year. Because Exxon lifted the target without announcing any new projects, it may accelerate an existing project, expand other facilities, or acquire additional LNG capacity, and the company has not yet detailed how it will reach the goal, which would support its targets of $25 billion in earnings growth and $35 billion in cash flow growth by 2030.