Natural Gas (Roasting Fuel)

Gazprom PJSC (Moscow; MOEX: GAZP; majority state-owned via Rosimushchestvo; 2022 revenue ~$163B before sanctions impact) is the world's largest natural gas company by reserves and historically by production, accounting for ~11% of global natural gas output and controlling ~16% of proven global reserves. Gazprom operates the three giant Yamal Peninsula supergiant fields: Bovanenkovo (production since 2012, design capacity 115+ bcm/year), Urengoy (peak producer, now mature), and Yamburg. The Yamal Peninsula fields sit above the Arctic Circle and require specialist cryogenic engineering. Post-February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Gazprom's pipeline revenues collapsed: Russia-Germany Nord Stream 1 flows were reduced to 20% of capacity before the pipeline was sabotaged in September 2022; Gazprom's net profit fell ~67% in 2022 and the company posted a rare net loss in FY2023. Gazprom's weaponization of gas flows to Europe (cutting flows to Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, Netherlands beginning in April 2022) constituted deliberate supply manipulation — documented by European energy regulators and ACER.

QatarEnergy (Doha; formerly Qatar Petroleum; wholly state-owned) controls all natural gas production in Qatar from the North Field — the world's largest single natural gas reservoir, holding ~10% of proven global natural gas reserves (24.7 tcm). Qatar's North Field straddles the maritime border with Iran (where it continues as the South Pars field — Iran's equivalent megareservoir). QatarEnergy completed the North Field South (NFS) expansion in 2022 (adding 16 mtpa LNG export capacity) and announced the North Field East (NFE) expansion in 2023 — one of the largest LNG project investments in history. Qatar was a moratorium on new North Field production drilling from 2005 to 2017 to protect reservoir pressure; the moratorium's lifting began the current expansion era. Qatar LNG exports (~77-80 mtpa of LNG) primarily go to Asia (Japan, South Korea, India, China) and Europe. All Qatari natural gas production is state-owned under QatarEnergy — there is no private gas production in Qatar.

US LNG company (NYSE: LNG, HQ Houston TX); operator of Sabine Pass LNG (Sabine Parish, Louisiana — world's largest LNG export terminal by capacity, ~30 mtpa across 6 trains) and Corpus Christi LNG (Texas, ~15 mtpa across 3 trains). Cheniere was the first company to export LNG from the US Lower 48 (February 2016, Sabine Pass Train 1). By 2023 Cheniere exported ~45 mtpa of LNG, making it the single largest LNG exporter in the world. Cheniere's business model is toll-based: it liquefies gas at a fixed fee while customers source the gas — meaning Cheniere earns revenue whether gas prices are high or low. 70% of Cheniere's LNG is sold under 20-year fixed-price contracts; the remainder is marketed on spot markets. Same company that first proved US LNG exports now controls the world's largest LNG export terminal.

Norwegian state-majority-owned energy company (Oslo: EQNR, HQ Stavanger); Norway's largest gas producer and Europe's second-largest gas supplier after Russia (pre-2022). Equinor operates offshore platforms in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (Troll, Sleipner, Snohvit, Oseberg, Gullfaks fields) feeding gas via subsea pipelines to the UK, Germany, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands through the Gassled pipeline infrastructure. Post-Nord Stream 1 sabotage (September 2022), Norway became Europe's largest gas supplier: Norwegian pipeline deliveries to Europe rose from ~100 bcm/year (2021) to ~112-115 bcm/year (2022-2023) as Europe scrambled to replace Russian volumes. Equinor also operates Hammerfest LNG (Melkoya Island, Norway) — Europe's first base-load LNG plant, though capacity is modest at ~4.2 mtpa. Equinor holds significant US upstream positions (Gulf of Mexico, Marcellus shale).

Shell plc (London; LSE/NYSE: SHEL; market cap ~$200B) is a major global natural gas producer and the operator of record for the Groningen gas field (Netherlands) — once the largest natural gas field in Europe with reserves of ~2.8 tcm. Shell (through NAM, a 50/50 joint venture with ExxonMobil) has operated Groningen since 1963. Groningen production was progressively phased down after induced seismicity (earthquakes, 3.5+ Richter) in Groningen province caused structural damage to tens of thousands of homes and generated sustained public opposition. The Dutch government ordered accelerated closure; Groningen production ceased entirely in October 2023 — removing the EU's primary domestic gas supply buffer. Shell also operates the Prelude Floating LNG (FLNG) facility off northwest Australia (world's largest FLNG vessel, 3.6 mtpa), and holds significant gas positions in UK North Sea, Permian Basin, and offshore Brunei.

French integrated energy and petrochemical company (NYSE: TTE, HQ Paris). TotalEnergies produces n-hexane at the Gonfreville (Normandy, France) and Antwerp (Belgium) refinery complexes. TotalEnergies' Petrochemicals division supplies European hexane markets for oilseed extraction (French/EU canola oil, sunflower oil crushing) and pharmaceutical solvent use. The Gonfreville refinery (Norman Refining, ~246,000 bpd) is one of France's largest. TotalEnergies' hexane is food-grade certified for EU markets where canola (rapeseed) and sunflower oil crushing uses hexane extraction extensively.

US LNG company (private); operator of Freeport LNG terminal on Quintana Island, Brazoria County, Texas — the second-largest LNG export terminal in the US with ~15 mtpa capacity across 3 trains. Freeport LNG suffered a catastrophic explosion and fire on June 8, 2022 that shut down the entire terminal; the facility did not resume full operations until February 2023 — an 8-month outage. The outage removed ~2.2 Bcf/day from US LNG exports at the precise moment Europe was most desperately seeking non-Russian LNG supply post-Nord Stream 1 sabotage (September 2022). FERC and DOT investigations found the explosion was caused by LNG liquid overfill into a vapor pipe — a process safety failure. Freeport LNG's outage contributed to JKM and TTF spot LNG price spikes in late 2022 and directly affected European energy security at a critical moment.