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By Andy Home, Senior Metals Columnist

Hello Power Up Readers! The world is going to get a lot more gassy despite global ambitions to pivot from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Norway’s natural gas exports hit a record monthly level in December, cementing the country’s role as Europe’s new dominant supplier. U.S. producer Chesapeake Energy has announced its intention to buy smaller rival Southwestern Energy in a deal that would see it become the country’s largest gas producer.

Plus, Chile’s lithium dreams hit a roadblock and has Europe’s energy security drive gone too far?

Today’s top headlines:

• Asia demand for Saudi oil holds steady despite price cuts

• US oil stockpiles rise more than forecast, distillates at two-year high -EIA

• Iran seizes oil tanker involved in US-Iran dispute in Gulf of Oman

Planned capital expenditure on natural gas pipelines & LNG import terminals.

Globally, more than $720 billion is going to be spent on building new gas pipelines with another $190 billion going into liquid natural gas (LNG) facilities, ensuring fossil fuels will retain a critical role in energy systems well beyond 2030. North America tops the list in terms of planned expenditure with East Asia a close second but this is a truly global phenomenon.

Reuters Energy Transition Columnist Gavin Maguire takes a deep dive into planned regional investment in gas pipelines and LNG import infrastructure.

Reuters reporters will bring the latest news and analysis on the 2024 U.S. elections straight to your inbox. Click below to update your newsletter preferences.

Gas processing platform Sleipner T near Stavanger, Norway. REUTERS/Nerijus Adomaitis

Norway delivered 11. 1 billion cubic metres of gas to Europe in December, setting a new monthly record, according to pipeline system operator Gassco. Full-year exports fell by 6.7% from 2022 levels due to lengthy maintenance outages but some of last year’s work was to increase capacity at the Kollsnes processing plant, an investment which is now paying dividends.

Europe’s demand for natural gas is expected to remain high in 2024, with Gassco’s system ready to handle the expected volumes and maintain the new, higher capacity, according to Alfred Skaar Hansen, Gassco’s senior vice president for system operation, speaking to Reuters reporter Nora Buli.

Chesapeake Energy aims for top natural gas spot. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

Chesapeake Energy announced it intends to buy smaller rival Southwestern Energy in an all-stock transaction valued at $7.4 billion, a deal that would enable the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer to take the top spot, Reuters reports here.

The Southwestern bid is the biggest in Chesapeake’s efforts to add heft to a pivot to natural gas assets since emerging from bankruptcy in 2021. Last year, it beefed up its position in the gas-rich shale plays of the U.S. northeast with its $2.5 billion buyout of Chief E&D.

A view of the Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) ship “Hoegh Esperanza” at a LNG terminal at the port of Wilhelmshaven, Germany. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

President Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine created a seismic energy shock in Europe, exposing the bloc’s dependency on Russian gas imports. As a consequence the European Union (EU) has rushed to build out capacity to import liquid natural gas (LNG).

But as Reuters Breakingviews columnist Lisa Jucca examines, Europe may have overplayed its strategy. If all the projects currently under construction are completed, the EU’s LNG capacity in 2030 could exceed the region’s total gas demand.

“I’ll try not to jinx it, but there is nothing that we see that is in the way of setting a new record for delivery.”

Alfred Skaar Hansen, Gassco’s senior vice president for system operation, on Norway’s projected gas deliveries to Europe in 2024

A protest by several hundred people in northern Chile on Wednesday blocked access to the Atacama salt flat, the world’s largest lithium deposit, where domestic producer SQM and U.S. firm Albemarle extract the metal.The action, led by local indigenous groups, is preventing the movement of workers, supplies and lithium.

The action underscores a serious challenge to the government’s plans to impose more state control over the metal needed for batteries used to power the world’s growing electric vehicle fleet, as Reuters reports here.

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