NEW YORK, Dec 29, 2025, 14:57 ET — Regular session
- Woodside’s U.S.-listed shares rose after it signed a binding long-term LNG supply deal with Turkey’s BOTAS.
- U.S. Henry Hub natural gas was up nearly 7% after the latest storage withdrawal topped expectations.
- LNG exporters and gas producers firmed as traders tracked winter demand signals.
Woodside Energy’s U.S.-listed shares were up about 1% on Monday after the Australian gas producer signed a binding liquefied natural gas supply deal with Turkey’s state-owned BOTAS.
The agreement lands as winter weather expectations and a sharper-than-forecast storage draw lift U.S. natural gas prices, tightening near-term fundamentals for producers and LNG-linked names.
It also adds another long-dated contract to an LNG market that is racing to lock in buyers ahead of a wave of new export capacity later this decade, with investors increasingly focused on who can secure long-term demand.
Woodside said it will supply about 5.8 billion cubic meters of LNG for up to nine years starting in 2030, turning a non-binding heads of agreement signed in September into a contract.
“This supply agreement with BOTAŞ represents a strategic milestone for Woodside, given it is our first long-term LNG supply arrangement with the Turkish market,” executive vice-president and chief commercial officer Mark Abbotsford said. Reuters
Woodside said most of the cargoes will be sourced from its Louisiana LNG project under construction in the United States, supplemented by supply from its broader portfolio.
The Louisiana project received final approval in late April and is slated to deliver first gas in 2029, Woodside said.
In commodities, Henry Hub natural gas — priced in dollars per million British thermal units, the industry’s standard heat-content measure — rose to about $4.67, up 6.9% on the day.
The Energy Information Administration reported a 166-billion-cubic-feet storage withdrawal for the week ended Dec. 19, versus a forecast for a 169-bcf draw, according to Investing.com’s economic calendar.
Other U.S.-listed gas-linked stocks also edged higher. Cheniere Energy rose about 1.5%, while gas producer EQT gained about 1.4%.
Traders are watching whether colder weather boosts demand into early January and whether LNG feedgas flows stay elevated, after LSEG data cited by Reuters showed LNG export plant flows running at 18.4 billion cubic feet per day so far this month.
For Woodside, investors will focus on further long-term offtake agreements tied to Louisiana LNG and milestones on construction and financing, while the broader gas trade remains keyed to weather-driven demand swings and the pace of storage withdrawals.
The EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook forecast the Henry Hub spot price averaging around $4.30 per mmBtu this winter heating season, and projected U.S. LNG exports rising to 16.3 bcf/d in 2026.
