Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.15
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
By 2024 the US is expected to eclipse Qatar and Australia and hold a position as the worlds’ largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter – and that could have a radical effect on the wider market, Trend reports citing Wood Mackenzie research and consulting company.
“In our forecasts we see a positive outcome for projects around the world, and the US leads the pack,” said the company.
Wood Mackenzie believes that globally, there is no doubt that new capacity is needed to meet demand.
“In fact, we forecast that global LNG demand will grow from below 400 mmtpa in 2020 to around 550 mmtpa by 2030. And with fresh confidence in the strength of the market comes a rise in new projects worldwide,” said the company.
‘US LNG does face competition from projects in Qatar, Mozambique and Russia and smaller incremental projects in West Africa, Papua New Guinea and Australia. So far, the US is attracting the strongest interest. Since the start of 2018, US LNG sellers have signed new contracts with buyers totalling more than 30 mmtpa.”
While the potential for demand growth in China and supply growth in the US is huge, LNG trade between the two nations is currently largely on hold, according to Wood Mackenzie.
The company said that in 2018 more than 50 percent of China’s imports were from just four countries: Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Qatar.
“The ongoing trade dispute is a real barrier to signing long-term deals with the US that would help diversify its supply. And the US isn’t China’s only option for contracting new supply, as we’ve seen with CNOOC and CNPC’s entry into Arctic LNG-2 in Russia. So, while the profiles of Chinese demand and US supply may seem like an ideal fit, that may not push them to a resolution.”
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