Uniper and ConocoPhillips have extended their existing long-term gas partnership to incorporate the supply of up to ten billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas over the next ten years.

The giant US energy multinational will supply natural gas to Germany’s Uniper in north-west Europe while leveraging its existing piped gas and growing liquefied natural gas (LNG) positions, the companies revealed in a joint statement.

The statement added that both ConocoPhillips and Uniper “have had a decades-long trusted and strong energy partnership [and] the extension of this relationship continues the successful cooperation between the partners”.

According to several US media sources, the deal relates specifically to pipeline gas and not LNG, despite LNG being mentioned in the official statement.

Uniper recently warned that Germany needed to offer new gas-fired power plant tenders if the nation wished to finally phase out coal plants, which is due to be completed by the end of this decade.

Germany accounts for 0.1% of global natural gas production, with the world’s largest producers being the US, Russia and Iran.

The largest producers of natural gas in Germany are ExxonMobil, Shell and Neptune Energy Group. ExxonMobil was the largest producer in 2023, but with output still down by 13% on 2022.