Warren Buffett is tripling down on his bet on liquefied natural gas (LNG).
LNG is natural gas that has been cooled to roughly -260° F and condensed into a liquid.
This reduces the volume of natural gas by about 600 times. And it makes it easier to store and transport.
And last week, the 92-year-old billionaire investor agreed to buy a 50% stake in the Cove Point LNG terminal for $3.3 billion in cash.
In 2020, Buffett bought a 25% stake in Cove Point and was already responsible for running the Maryland-based facility. This latest deal triples his stake to 75%.
Source: LNG Global
Buffett has also been snapping up shares of Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, and other oil and gas companies. And this latest purchase adds to his portfolio of energy infrastructure assets.
The man known as the greatest investor in history clearly believes these energy resources are going to be in demand for a while and grow more valuable over time.
At Wide Moat Research, we’re focused on finding the safest income investments on the market. When legendary investors are betting big on a trend, we pay attention… and look for ways to profit.
Today, I’ll show you why Cove Point will be a great investment for Buffett. I’ll also show you one way to profit from the coming wave of demand for LNG.
Cove Point’s Complete 180
Cove Point was built in the 1970s as an LNG import facility.
Ships bringing LNG from Algeria in north Africa would dock at the terminal to unload their cargo. The natural gas was fed into pipelines that supplied the mid-Atlantic States.
But as LNG prices increased in the 1980s and 1990s, it no longer made sense to import LNG. And Cove Point turned into a natural gas storage facility.
Then the shale revolution turned everything around. Thanks to fracking, which releases oil and gas from cracks in rocks, it allowed drillers to unlock new stores of energy.
Suddenly, there was more natural gas than was needed.
That’s when the owners of Cove Point decided to upgrade it to become an LNG export terminal.
Cove Point shipped out its first cargo of LNG in 2018. Today, it’s one of only a handful of operational LNG export terminals.
And it’s the only one on the East Coast near one of the country’s largest sources of natural gas – the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
And business is booming…
Capture the Best Gains from LNG Demand
Demand for LNG is rising around the world.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Europe lost its largest source of natural gas. So countries there started importing more LNG to make up the difference. Last year, Europe imported 65% more LNG than it did in 2021.
China has been snapping up long-term LNG contracts. It signed more than 24% of its LNG deals over the past two years.
India is also looking to power its growing economy with natural gas. It expects demand for the fuel to nearly quadruple by 2030. And much of that will come from importing LNG.
According to the Energy Information Administration, America’s LNG exports are projected to increase by 150% over the next decade.
Cove Point and other LNG terminals act like tollbooths. They collect a fee for every billion cubic feet (bcf), or 7.48 billion gallons, of LNG they load onto a ship.
So Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway will get a steady income from its purchase for many years to come.
Export terminals are not the only way to play the coming wave of demand for LNG, though.
Before natural gas makes it onto a ship, it first has to be transported from the oilfield to the terminal.
That’s where pipeline companies come in. They also act like tollbooths and get a reliable profit… no matter what the price of natural gas is.
And right now, I’ve found one pipeline company that has struck a deal with the U.S. government to transport this valuable resource… and help power America’s economy.
It’s using a proprietary technology to reduce carbon emissions while transporting it. This could change the face of the energy industry as we know it.
And because it can help the U.S. reach its carbon goals, the government is putting its full faith behind this “green energy tech.”
In just the next few years, an estimated $44 trillion is going to flow into this sector. And thanks to this deal, this company is primed to get a chunk of that.
Now, thanks to our months-long research, you can get a chunk of it, too.
I’ll tell you all The “One Deal” Retirement Summit. Because learning about this one deal could help you fund your retirement.
And just for attending, I’ll share the name of one little-known energy play that’s will also profit from this trillion-dollar trend.
Click here to join me on Sunday, August 11, at 11 a.m. ET and learn all about it.
Happy SWAN (sleep well at night) investing,
Brad Thomas
Editor, Intelligent Income Daily