Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.10
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is set to outstrip supply, Massimo Di-Odoardo, Vice President, Global Gas and LNG Research, believes.
He pointed out that the last 18 months have been transformational for the LNG industry. “After years of concern about oversupply, improved market dynamics mean that this fear has reduced. The massive coal to gas switching program in China has certainly played a large part in this changing landscape. And with European imports expected to double by 2025, Europe will become a major importer too.”
Di-Odoardo said that a policy shift in China is unsurprisingly making the headlines.
“China started massive coal-to-gas switch program. Following this, China’s LNG demand grew by 45 percent in 2017. It grew by another 60 percent in the first six months of 2018. European import dependency has increased by 65 bcm since 2013 as a consequence of higher gas demand and reduced domestic production. We expect European import to double by 2025,” he said.
Improved market dynamics mean that the fear of an oversupplied LNG market has reduced, according to Di-Odoardo.
“There is now enough market space in Europe to absorb this. The market will require new LNG supply as soon as in 2022. By 2025 we expect that 65 billion cubic meters of LNG will be required,” he said.
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