Bright future seen for LNG industry

A bright future is forecast for the LNG industry, as long-term gas demand drives major investment in global LNG facilities, Marines New online reports.

 

PORT MORESBY, PNG (THE NATIONAL) ---- A bright future is forecast for the LNG industry, as long-term gas demand drives major investment in global LNG facilities, Marines New online reports. A new report from energy business advisers Douglas-Westwood (DW) predicted the Pacific basin including the PNG LNG project would be the main contributor to a 10-year global investment high of US$26 billion per annum by 2015. The report is being launched today at the 6th FLNG Asia Pacific Summit in Singapore and the 5th Annual Gas Storage Conference in London, with presentations by Jason Waldie and Joseph Dutton. "Last year saw recovery in LNG demand, led by Asian consumers. "China, in particular, has seen its LNG demand grow from 1bcm (billion cubic metre) in 2006 to around 13bcm today. "LNG imports to Western European and Latin American countries have also increased. "In addition, we have the prospect of increased demand for natural gas as the world considers the future of nuclear energy in the aftermath of the Japanese crisis," report lead author, Lucy Miller, said. "On the supply side, 2010 saw the commencement of major construction work on new facilities in Australia and Papua New Guinea. "Despite lower levels of expenditure on new LNG facilities, resulting from projects being delayed by the recession, the market is expected to recover and capital expenditures on LNG facilities for the 2011-15 period is forecast to total over US$93 billion," concludes Miller. The report suggested that much of the sector's growth would be driven by an abundance of promising liquefaction pro-jects in Australasia and import facilities in Asia. The market model used to develop the forecasts was based on a project-by-project review of development prospects, with the timing of expenditure phased to reflect likely project structure. The 200-page report included 130 charts and 70 tables showing historic and forecast expenditures in US dollar values from 2006 to 2015, segmented by facility type and region. Expenditure related to LNG liquefaction and regasification terminals was further broken down by individual components – including jetty and loading arms, storage tanks, compressors and construction services.