Swiss trader MET Group triples 2025 LNG cargoes, eyes global expansion, executive says

By Marwa Rashad

LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Switzerland-based energy trader MET Group has almost tripled its liquefied natural gas cargo import volumes so far this year and expects stronger growth in the coming years as it prepares to expand outside Europe to capitalise on growing global demand for LNG, a top executive told Reuters.

MET has delivered LNG to 16 countries this year, with Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, Italy and Croatia among its most active markets. In Asia, it delivered LNG to China, India, Japan and South Korea.

"We have transacted 82 cargoes so far this year. Last year we did 28 cargoes. We are going to multiply the business we've been doing by approximately three times by the end of this year," said Luis Sanchez, head of LNG at MET International AG (METI), the group's trading and wholesale arm.

"I am not wrong if I say that we might be among the three fastest growing LNG businesses in Europe in terms of cargo delivered," Sanchez said.

FROM EUROCENTRIC TO GLOBAL

MET, whose activities are mostly in Europe, plans to expand its LNG delivery network, targeting the Baltics, the Mediterranean region and Asia in the next three to five years.

"We want to move from Eurocentric to global with a key European home," Sanchez said.

"In the Baltic Sea, for instance, we are exploring the possibility of expanding our LNG delivery network to additional terminals, including Klaipeda (in Lithuania), adding another strategic access point to further strengthen regional supply security," he added.

The energy trader has set up an office in Singapore in 2023 to focus on LNG trading as well as asset investments.

"In the next three to five years, our aim is to be well recognised globally, in the most relevant markets in the world, including Asia," Sanchez said.

MET Group signed a 20-year Heads of Agreement with U.S. Commonwealth LNG in 2023 and in 2024, the company entered into a 10-year LNG agreement with Shell to purchase U.S. LNG with the intent to continue growing its long-term LNG portfolio.