Chevron targets Argentina, Mediterranean for LNG growth, eyes India deal

Argentina, East Mediterranean lead Chevron's next LNG push

Chevron is looking to expand its global gas portfolio from Argentina to the East Mediterranean to meet growing demand from buyers concerned about energy security after the Iran conflict, President of Global Gas Freeman Shaheen told Reuters on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Bangkok. He flagged "great prospects out of Argentina with the development of crude and gas in that marketplace" and called the East Mediterranean "a very exciting area for us," while declining to name specific countries. In June, Chevron won approval to become operator and lead gas exploration in an offshore block off Greece, extending its presence there.

Portfolio scales toward 20 million tons as Gulf Coast contracts ramp up

Chevron will have about 20 million metric tons per annum of LNG supply capacity, comprising 16 million tons of net gas production from its projects and 4 million tons contracted from the U.S. Gulf Coast that commenced in February and will ramp up over the next few years in line with agreements. Shaheen said the company is "looking to continue to expand that portfolio," adding that the Ukraine war in 2022 and the Iran conflict this year have reinforced the need for diversified supply and contracting structures.

Australia, Africa weighed alongside a $7 billion Venezuela bet

Shaheen sees further opportunities in Australia and Africa if projects offer the right capital, fiscal and regulatory terms, noting that Chevron already runs Australia's largest LNG project, Gorgon, along with Wheatstone, with a large portion of Australian supply going to Japan. Those opportunities will be weighed against Venezuela, where Chevron and its partners would invest more than $7 billion to more than double oil output by 2031. "Everything is going to get analysed in our project queue and it gets ranked," Shaheen said.

Asia: Japan anchored, Singapore contracted, India still elusive

Shaheen called Japan "our home base" and pointed to structural opportunities into Singapore, where Chevron signed a 2024 deal to supply Sembcorp Industries up to 0.6 million tons per annum of LNG from 2028, with China and Korea also described as attractive markets. On India, he said: "I'd love to have a deal in India. It's just they're very, very headline-price driven. I think India is still evolving. There's going to be great opportunities over time," reflecting what he characterized as a broader shift by state-backed importers toward portfolio suppliers over government-to-government arrangements.