Gas keeps centre stage boasting resilience and reliability to secure the energy future

With global demand expected to rise by 2.5 % annually through 2030, gas is at the centre stage of the energy arena and keeps benefiting from peculiar features and factors including security, portfolio diversity, and the integration with renewables, executives from the sector worldwide said a conference on the second day of Gastech 2025 in Milan.

The ongoing transition to cleaner gas made possible by growing investments in low-emission power generation underscores the industry's efforts to balance energy needs with environmental concerns, they added.

“We are seeing more and cleaner gas, so gasses by default, genetically let's say, with lower emissions,” said Fatema Al Nuaimi, Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC Gas.

The massive demand, including that from emerging economies, increasingly does not only reflect the need for flexible, lower-carbon energy. It has to do with the storage financial mechanisms.

“If you look at all the scenarios, even at the most aggressive ones with decarbonisation in the European Union, there is still gas, and there's still a need for gas,” said Christina Verchere, CEO at OMV Petrom. “So that just tells you the resilience, I think, of the demand that is there. We are seeing more gas fired power plants being built.”

“Secondly, it clearly has a role in imbalances,” she added. “We need to be honest -- storage is going to try and compete for that space, it is financially lucrative, and storage is going to try to take some of that money. And then, of course, you have the big industries that still need heat, or they need a feed stock to come in, and then it is really an uncomfortable value.”

The security of supply remains under strain due to geopolitical disruptions, infrastructure constraints, and volatile pricing. To navigate this new era, companies must reimagine portfolio strategies, balancing spot and long-term contracts, diversifying geographies.

“We have got to have much more, stronger risk management that will help to ensure that you are managing exposure, not just on the short term, also on the long term,” said Ezran Mahadzir, Petronas LNG CEO. “Risk management processes now are supposed to be more focused, looking at it from a price exposure basis, on a day-to-day basis, but also looking at it from a strategic perspective — and I suppose that by doing so, we need to have a much more optimal portfolio.”

Adam Prestidge, President at Alaska LNG and EVP Business Affairs at LNG Glenfarne Group emphasised the importance of patience and financial debt for projects, developers and sponsors, citing the long gestation periods of projects like the ones in Texas and Alaska.

Delivering secure energy now requires agility across the value chain, underpinned by robust risk management, infrastructure investment, and aligned policy frameworks.

Tom Summers, EVP and LNG Marketing & Trading at Shell, stressed how the industry needs to maintain global competitiveness across various roles and said fundamental skills are needed for resilience in the market.

“All the businesses here are thinking of how they're going to grow, how they're going to be able to continue to be a player on a global field,” he stated. “And I think whether it's a mariner, an operator on a plant, or whether it's a trade or a cargo operator in headquarters, these are, these are fundamental skills.”