Bahrain could resume LNG imports in 2027, at levels close to last year’s eight cargoes

Bahrain’s LNG imports may restart in 2027: Bahrain could resume LNG imports next year at levels close to the eight cargoes it took in 2025, as industry recovers from war-related disruption, Bapco Upstream Executive VP Bader Albuqaishi told Argus. The Kingdom has received just one LNG cargo in 2026, with no more expected before year-end, after the March attacks and trade restrictions disrupted industrial operations and cut gas demand. A return to last year’s levels depends on the pace of the industrial recovery.

Factory demand will decide it: Bahrain entered 2026 expecting to import more LNG to meet growing industrial and electricity demand. Instead, factory disruptions and shortages of imported raw materials cut consumption. It imported around 635k tons of LNG between May and October 2025, with deliveries peaking at 217k tons in August as summer power demand rose, according to Kpler data cited by Argus.

The terminal is ready for the cargoes: Bahrain’s LNG terminal near Khalifa Bin Salman Port has 173k cbm of storage and regasification capacity of up to 800 mn scf / d. AD Ports Group subsidiary Noatum Maritime secured a five-year contract to provide marine service at the terminal in November 2025, including LNG carrier berthing, towage, and emergency response.

Bahrain’s own gas output is back, and its refinery is nearly there: Domestic gas production recovered to almost 2.3 bn cf / d in August from 1.9 bn cf / d in April. Meanwhile, the country’s 405k bbl / d Sitra refinery, damaged by missile strikes in March, is operating above 80% of capacity and could return to full throughput by the end of November, industry sources told Argus in a separate report.

Reserve seat

New Delhi could keep part of its emergency oil in Fujairah: India is exploring holding part of its strategic petroleum reserve in Fujairah, where tankers can load outside Hormuz, Gulf News reports. The UAE is India’s fourth-largest crude supplier and its second-largest for LNG and LPG, according to India’s Foreign Ministry.

The storage push runs in both directions: Adnoc could expand its storage in India to as much as 30 mn barrels, nearly triple the roughly 11 mn barrels it already leases through India’s strategic reserve system. The Indian prime minister’s office has identified two sites, one in Andhra Pradesh and the other in Odisha.

More of Adnoc’s crude is set to load outside Hormuz: The Habshan-Fujairah pipeline can carry around 1.8 mn bbl / d, and an expansion due to start operating in early 2027 could double that bypass capacity. Adnoc has told some Asian refiners that part of their supply is likely to arrive through the expanded line from early next year. Other countries in the region, including the Philippines and Indonesia, have been in talks with the UAE on fuel supply and storage options, after Adnoc already agreed to increase its crude storage presence in India, Japan, and South Korea.

Fertilizers in boxes

AD Ports Group could start moving Fertiglobe’s fertilizers by container: The pair signed an MoU at Adipec to explore containerized transport and warehousing for Fertiglobe, which bills itself as the world’s largest seaborne exporter of urea and net ammonia combined, according to a statement. The agreement covers nitrogen fertilizers, diesel exhaust fluid (the urea solution used to cut emissions from diesel engines), and automotive-grade urea, as well as logistics corridors on regional trade routes. The companies didn’t give a value, routes, warehouse locations, or a timeline.

REMEMBER- Both companies have been exploring logistics cooperation since 2023, when they signed an MoU covering urea and ammonia storage and shipping at ports in Egypt and the UAE. That agreement also envisioned cooperation in other markets and supply-chain solutions for green ammonia.