US, Thailand reportedly speed up talks on LNG supply

The US and Thailand are reportedly in talks over new long-term US-produced LNG supplies. This week, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that these talks had accelerated in the wake of the disruption to LNG supplies from the Middle East as a result of the war in Iran.

According to the sources, the talks are centred on a binding long-term deal between US LNG producer Venture Global and Thailand's state-owned PTT. The sources did not specify the volumes or contract durations being discussed, but Reuters noted that long-term contracts typically cover 15 years or more.

Th news service noted that the US and Thailand released a joint statement in October 2025 following trade talks, saying that Thai companies would purchase about $5.4bn per year worth of US energy products. According to that statement, the energy products would include LNG, crude oil and ethane. And it appears that further discussions have since taken place, at least as far as LNG trade goes.

In addition, these talks appear to have taken on additional urgency in recent weeks, following the outbreak of war in the Middle East. Around 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capacity has gone offline owing to damage from Iranian strikes, while tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – including LNG tankers – has been disrupted. Typically, around 20% of global LNG is shipped through the Strait.

Against this backdrop – with no clear end to the conflict in sight and repairs to Qatar’s LNG export infrastructure expected to take a few years – LNG buyers have been scrambling to secure alternative supplies of LNG. The US has been among the countries benefiting from this, with much of the demand coming from Asia. Indeed, Reuters noted that the US’ largest LNG producer, Cheniere Energy, had said in March that it was seeing more interest from Asian buyers.

And Thailand is the largest LNG importer in Southeast Asia, having already ramped up its purchases of the fuel in a bid to diversify its energy mix away from coal for power generation. Recent LNG deals involving Thai buyers include a deal signed in January between France’s Engie and Thailand’s Gulf Development for the supply of 800,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG over a 15-year period starting in 2028.

Neither Venture Global nor PTT have commented on the report that they are in talks over LNG supplies, which is typical for such negotiations. Nonetheless, Venture Global has signed a number of offtake agreements in recent months as it continues its buildout of more liquefaction capacity on the US Gulf Coast in Louisiana. The company has ambitions to overtake Cheniere to become the US’ largest LNG exporter and these ambitions need to be underpinned by more offtake agreements. Under those circumstances, it is not surprising that the company is in more talks with buyers, or that these talks have picked up pace since the outbreak of war in the Middle East.