Gastech 2026 energy deals and investment plans reach US$40bn

Gastech 2026 has seen energy agreements and investment plans with an estimated combined value of US$40 billion announced during its first three days, turning international energy discussions into commercial cooperation.

The announcements include memoranda of understanding (MOUs), sales contracts and investment plans. They reflect the event’s role as a forum for negotiations and partnerships across the energy value chain, supporting diverse energy needs, industrial expansion and the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and the digital economy.

LNG, gas and power agreements

China Gas Holdings and Venture Global LNG announced a 20-year agreement for the purchase of 500,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually from the United States, starting in 2030. The agreement aims to strengthen LNG supply security for one of the world’s largest energy markets.

GE Vernova and B.Grimm Power signed agreements covering gas turbine technology and long-term services to support both existing and new power generation projects in Thailand and Malaysia.

PETRONAS, PTTEP JDA and the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Authority (MTJA) signed a 35-year production-sharing contract and a natural gas sales agreement for the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area (JDA), aimed at increasing gas supplies to both countries.

Eni and the Senegalese government signed an MOU to assess the oil potential of five offshore exploration blocks, with the aim of expanding domestic production of secure, affordable energy.

Sarawak concluded discussions with Indorama Ventures and Japanese partners on a downstream natural gas and petrochemicals investment worth approximately US$1 billion in Bintulu. The investment is intended to strengthen local industrial capacity and generate additional value from the region’s resources.

Samsung Heavy Industries secured shipbuilding orders worth US$1.2 billion for LNG carriers and crude oil tankers, expanding the shipping capacity needed for international energy trade.

Horacio Marín, chairman and chief executive of YPF, announced plans to sign two or three LNG sales agreements for the Argentina LNG export project.

Energy security and infrastructure investment

Alongside the commercial announcements, Gastech 2026 continued high-level discussions on the future of energy security, reliability and affordability.

The ministerial session “Africa Takes Power: Control, Sovereignty and Growth” explored how African countries could turn their energy potential into industrial growth, wider access to energy and long-term economic value.

Yeukai Simbanegavi, Zimbabwe’s deputy minister of energy and power development, said the country had previously relied on energy imports but had recently discovered oil in the north.

Zimbabwe was working with investors but needed further partnerships, particularly to upgrade the national grid, she said. This would provide the infrastructure investors needed to realise the full potential of their investments.

Government leaders and energy executives also emphasised the need for infrastructure investment across the energy value chain throughout the strategic conference.

Speaking during “Building Energy Security: The Global Race to Deliver Natural Gas Infrastructure”, Paul Marsden, president of Bechtel Energy, said predictability and the ability to plan were essential when developing large, capital-intensive infrastructure projects.

Developers needed to know where and when gas would be produced to make well-informed investment decisions, he explained, because people around the world depended on fuel being delivered on time and at an affordable price.

Financing and infrastructure development were also discussed during “Advancing Sustainable Maritime Infrastructure and Fleet Capacity”.

James Sagar, chief executive of Hanwha Shipping, said shipping was a long-term investment that required careful planning to preserve the value of assets over their 20–30-year working lives.

This involved securing finance, working with producers and buyers, and ensuring regulations allowed appropriate technology to be used throughout a vessel’s life. Cooperation among all parties was the starting point, he said.

The business cost of methane losses

Natural gas and methane were the focus of “Capturing the Lost Opportunity: Driving Global Alignment on Methane Abatement Across Natural Gas Supply Chains”.

Adeleye Falade, managing director and chief executive of Nigeria LNG, said the industry needed to rethink how it viewed methane. Every tonne lost represented not only wasted energy but also lost commercial value.

Once those losses could be measured accurately, the business case for reducing them would become clear, he said.

Connecting Thailand with the global energy industry

Dr Supawan Teerarat, president of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), said Gastech 2026 demonstrated how attracting global events aligned with Thailand’s target industries could help drive their development.

The event brought together energy industry leaders, investors, technology providers and innovators from around the world in Thailand, with more than 50,000 participants from over 150 countries. It was expected to generate approximately THB14.62 billion in economic value.

Supawan said this reflected the event’s role in connecting Thailand with the global energy industry and providing a meeting point for business, investment and technology in Asia.

For Thailand, the value of global trade exhibitions extends beyond the economic activity generated during the events themselves. These platforms can help advance the country’s target industries by bringing in international technology and expertise, creating business and investment opportunities, and connecting Thai businesses to global value chains.

Gastech 2026 therefore demonstrates not only Thailand’s capacity to host global events, but also its ability to turn international exhibitions into a means of driving industrial development and strengthening connections with Asia.