“We see strong growth in natural gas, with the market expected to grow at an average of 2.4% a year over the period to 2025,” says BG Group, which operates a fleet of 25 LNG tankers.
This strong growth in gas demand will see the LNG trade grow to well over 400 mtpa (million tonnes per annum) by 2025, most commentators agree. This is in comparison to a trade of around 240 mtpa in 2012. Last year saw growth in Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American LNG imports outpace growth in supply, with six new LNG import terminals starting operation (two of which were in China). New LNG production trains in Australia, Indonesia and the US are due to come on-stream in 2015, marking a new era of supply growth, after a period of four years marked by flat supply. Some 400 LNG ships currently ply their trade among the 19 LNG exporting nations and 28 importing nations of the world.
BG Group’s annual Global LNG Market Outlook forecasts increasing volatility in the 2015 LNG arena, as new ‘waves’ of supply start to add volume together with new markets opening up. Andrew Walker, the company’s Vice-President of Global LNG, commented, “After four years of flat supply we are entering a period of supply growth. 2014 marked the start-up of a new wave of supply from Australia. This will be joined by the first volumes from the US Gulf of Mexico around the end of 2015.”
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
