Germany’s BASF SE has signed its first deal to buy liquefied natural gas as the chemical producer steps up efforts to diversify supplies amid Europe’s wider push to sever links with Russia.
Starting from the middle of 2026, BASF will receive about 800,000 tons of LNG annually from Cheniere Energy Inc. in an agreement that runs through 2043, the U.S. exporter said August 22 in a statement. The deal is subject to a final investment decision on the first train of the Sabine Pass expansion project in Louisiana.
Shares of Cheniere rose as much as 2.4% in New York, while BASF added as much as 2.5% in Frankfurt after Bloomberg reported on a potential sale of catalyst assets.
The length of the agreement underlines Germany’s growing commitment to long-term deals, something it was previously reluctant to pursue in its transition to a low-carbon economy. U.S. LNG has helped fill gaps left by reduced pipeline supplies from Russia, which provided more than half of Germany’s gas before Moscow’s war with Ukraine.
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“By establishing our own dedicated LNG supply chain with Cheniere, we are diversifying our energy and raw materials portfolio at a time of critical changes in the European gas market, which is marked by increased demand and volatile prices for LNG,” said Dirk Elvermann, BASF’s chief financial officer.
The sales and purchase agreement is on a free-on-board basis and linked to the U.S. Henry Hub price plus a fixed liquefaction fee. Other LNG buyers that have signed deals with Cheniere in 2023 for its Sabine Pass expansion include Korea Southern Power Co., Norwegian producer Equinor ASA and Chinese company ENN Energy Holdings Ltd.
For BASF, it’s the first-ever LNG supply contract, a spokesperson said by email.
BASF has no existing capacity at any German regasification terminals, but it would need to secure import rights into Europe for the Cheniere contract, as well as charter or rent for-hire LNG vessels. BASF has petrochemical production in the U.S. — primarily Texas and Louisiana — which means that the German manufacturer also buys U.S.-sourced natural gas.
Fellow chemical giant Dow Chemical took a minority stake in the proposed German LNG import terminal Hanseatic Energy hub in 2022, though it has no long-term LNG supply.
