South Korea Quitting Coal Will Hurt US LNG and Australian Coal Exports - OilPrice.com

India can save $1 bn in crude imports by replacing 10% diesel with LNG - Business Standard

China Calls EU Carbon Border Tax Unfair, Warns of Counter-Moves - Bloomberg

Russia’s Pipeline Gas Sales to Europe Plunge to 50-Year Low - OilPrice.com

US drillers add oil, gas rigs for second week in a row, Baker Hughes says - Reuters

Saipem secures $425m contract for expansion of Turkey's largest offshore gas field - Reuters

First US LNG Cargo for Bulgaria Arrives in Greece’s Alexandroupolis - Greek Reporter

Santos misses end-of-year deadline for first Barossa LNG cargo - The Australian Financial Review (Subscription)

Political Pressure Report: December 2025

Monthly Regulatory Impact Report

#1: AUSTRALIA RESERVATION SHOCK

Government mandated 15-25% domestic gas reservation from 2027 for new contracts. No grandfathering, applies to ALL contracts signed after Dec 22, 2025. Volume impact: 200-350 petajoules annually.

#2: EU RUSSIAN GAS BAN FORMALIZED

Binding phase-out: LNG by Dec 31, 2026, pipeline gas by Sept 30, 2027 (Nov 1, 2027 if storage issues). Russian gas worth €10 billion annually (35 bcm). EU dependency fell from 45% to 13% in first half 2025. Hungary signaled opposition. Creates hard deadline for Member States to secure replacement volumes.

#3: RUSSIA 100 MT TARGET DELAYED

Deputy PM Novak confirmed 100 million tonne/year target pushed back "several years" from 2030 due to sanctions. Current production: 2024 produced 34.7 MT; 2025 expected 33 MT. Government projections: 90-105 MT by 2030, 110-130 MT by 2036. Removes ~65 MT from anticipated timeline vs. planned capacity.

#4: JAPAN NUCLEAR RESTART

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Unit 6 approved for January 2026 restart—Tokyo Electric's first reactor since 2011. Combined with $1.3B clean power subsidies (Dec 23), signals structural LNG displacement in world's second-largest import market.

#5: SOUTH KOREA CONTRADICTORY SIGNALS

Negotiating 3-9 MTPA U.S. LNG imports BUT targeting LNG share reduction from ~20% to 10.6% by 2038. Reflects tariff avoidance contracting without net demand growth, supplier displacement rather than market expansion.