Southeast Asia weighs energy transition amid LNG supply crunch
Energy ministers and executives met in Bangkok on Monday to discuss the prolonged price increase for liquefied natural gas (LNG) triggered by the Iran war, with Southeast Asia’s growth ambitions and climate goals on the line as the cost of powering economies shifting to artificial intelligence soars.
On the first day of Gastech 2026, one of the world’s largest energy conferences, policymakers implored pragmatism over net-zero targets and closer cooperation to ensure affordable LNG supplies, particularly among Southeast Asian neighbours whose industrial plans remain hooked on gas generation.
The region’s energy security has been brutally exposed since the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February, resulting in the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz and what Tengku Mohammad Taufik, CEO of Malaysian state energy giant Petronas, described as a “debacle” that has “curtailed, disrupted or disturbed” a fifth of the world’s gas supplies.
Singapore’s economy is virtually fully powered by natural gas, most of it imported from Malaysia and Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest producing nations.
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