Expectations of gas market growth and increased German investments in China amid market fluctuations

Shell's Integrated Gas Sector President, Cedric Cremers, expects that the global natural gas market will grow by about two-thirds by 2050, in light of the continued demand for gas and its place in the global energy mix.

During an energy forum, Cremers said that Shell's sales of liquefied natural gas are expected to grow at a rate of between 4 and 5 percent annually during the period between 2025 and 2030.

He added that the world has lost about 36 million tons of liquefied natural gas coming from the Middle East since the beginning of this year. In reference to the impact of the unrest taking place in the region on global gas supplies.

Shell's forecasts come at a time when the liquefied natural gas market is facing supply disruptions, while the global market continues to rely on gas to meet energy demand and support the stability of electricity networks.

European stocks were largely flat on Monday, with technology shares falling, after calls from executives at leading artificial intelligence companies to slow the pace of development of this technology, while a new jump in oil prices led to a decline in appetite for high-risk assets.

The European STOXX 600 index remained little changed at 638.95 points in volatile trading by 08:10 GMT, while most of the major stock indices in the region declined, according to Reuters.

Shares of technology companies fell 1.4 percent, in line with the weakness of their Asian counterparts, after Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, called on artificial intelligence companies to slow down the pace of developing the capabilities of their models, due to fears of their misuse.

Shares of the German company Infineon fell by 5.8 percent, while shares of the Dutch companies ASML and ASMI fell by 4.4 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Most of the sectors listed on the STOXX 600 index declined, coinciding with the rise in oil prices by more than 2 percent, amid worsening concerns about supplies.

The European energy sector was the exception; It rose 0.4 percent.

Attention is now turning to the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision this week, amid increasing traders' bets on reducing interest rates by 25 basis points. The European Central Bank cut interest rates last week.

German companies increased their investments in China by about a third during the first half of 2026, while sharply reducing their investments in the United States, according to a study conducted by the German Economic Institute “IW”, and seen by “Reuters” on Sunday.

The study showed that German companies invested an additional 5.6 billion euros ($6.50 billion) in China, compared to the same period last year, based on the institute’s analysis of data from the German Central Bank.

This level of investments was in line with the average investments during one half year between 2020 and 2025.

“German companies have little choice but to continue investing in China,” said Jurgen Mathis, an expert at the German Economic Institute, describing the country as an important market for sales, as well as a “gym” through which companies can enhance their competitiveness, according to Reuters.

Mathis added that government support and the depreciation of the yuan make production in China artificially cheaper, which encourages German companies to expand their production locally with the aim of competing with Chinese companies in global markets.

“For Germany, this means the transfer of production and job opportunities to China,” Mathis said, calling on the European Union to stop what he described as “this unfair game” and to impose countervailing duties on Chinese imports.

On the other hand, German investments in the United States declined by about two-thirds to reach about 4.3 billion euros, according to the study, amid trade tensions and customs duties imposed by US President Donald Trump.