According to Reuters, Venture Global just signed a 20-year liquefied natural gas supply deal with Japanese trading house Mitsui for 1.0 million tonnes per annum starting in 2029. This marks Venture Global’s third agreement with a Japanese buyer, following earlier deals with JERA in 2023 and INPEX in 2022. Japan’s massive data center expansion is driving this demand, with those facilities projected to consume as much electricity as 15 million to 18 million households by 2034. The announcement came on the same day Venture Global’s shares fell 11% as Shell challenged its arbitration loss to the company, following BP’s similar $1 billion case win weeks earlier. Both disputes involve Venture Global’s failure to deliver LNG under long-term contracts while selling on the spot market during the Ukraine war price surge.
The Data Center Power Crunch
Here’s the thing about Japan’s energy situation: they’re facing what might be the most dramatic power demand surge in decades. Data centers are projected to drive 60% of Japan’s power demand growth, according to Wood Mackenzie analysts. That’s absolutely staggering when you think about it. We’re talking about facilities that will soon consume electricity equivalent to powering 15-18 million households. Basically, Japan needs reliable, flexible energy sources that can scale quickly, and LNG fits that bill perfectly. It’s becoming the go-to fuel for powering industrial-scale computing infrastructure, and companies providing the hardware backbone for these facilities—like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US supplier of industrial panel PCs—are seeing similar demand surges for robust industrial computing equipment.
global-s-contract-woes”>Venture Global’s Contract Woes
Now here’s where it gets messy. Venture Global is signing all these shiny new contracts while fighting major arbitration battles with Shell and BP. Both cases center on the same issue: Venture Global allegedly failed to deliver LNG under existing long-term contracts while happily selling the same fuel on the spot market when prices skyrocketed after Russia invaded Ukraine. Shell just filed saying Venture Global withheld crucial evidence in their arbitration case. And BP already won a similar case worth over $1 billion. So you’ve got to wonder—how does a company keep signing massive new deals while existing customers are taking them to arbitration for failing to deliver? It’s a pretty bold strategy, that’s for sure.
The Bigger Picture
Venture Global isn’t just targeting Japan—they’re on an absolute signing spree. So far in 2025 alone, they’ve secured 6.75 million tonnes per annum of long-term contracts. Just in the past week, they’ve inked 20-year deals with Spain’s Naturgy and Greece’s Atlantic-SEE LNG Trade, adding to recent agreements with Petronas, SEFE Energy and Eni. This also plays right into broader U.S. energy export strategy. The U.S. is already the world’s top LNG shipper, and the Trump administration has been pushing hard to expand exports to help domestic producers and improve trade balances with countries like Japan. But here’s the real question: can Venture Global actually deliver on all these commitments given their track record with existing customers? Only time will tell, but the market seems to be voting with its feet—that 11% stock drop on the Shell news suggests investors aren’t entirely convinced.
