Future LNG demand in Asia is currently underestimated, and more infrastructure projects will be required to come online from the latter half of the decade to meet it, a London conference on LNG heard Wednesday.
At the moment, LNG suppliers manage to meet general demand, "but not with much of a margin," Frederic Deybach, Vice President Prospection for GDF Suez LNG told Informa's LNG Global Congress 2012.
"Markets will remain quite tight in 2013, 2014, but with more infrastructure projects coming online from 2015...[LNG] prices will ease," he said.
By 2020, the number of LNG exporting countries is likely to stand at 25, and the number of importers at 40, compared to 23 producers and 18 importers in 2010, Deybach said.
Asia will remain the biggest market globally, with a share of around 60%. However, as construction delays and other problems are likely to arise in terms of infrastructure, Deybach said, "there will be plenty of room for more projects to come, and additional projects may be needed at both the Atlantic and Pacific basins."
AUSTRALIA WILL LEAD THE PACK
According to Guy Broggi, Senior Adviser, LNG Division, at Total, Australia will "lead the pack" when it comes to supplying the Asian market. "Australia will be the new Qatar," he said.
Newcomers to LNG, such as China and India, Broggi said, "have a strong appetite and are planning many things," while, overall, potential Asian demand "is huge, even in Indonesia and Malaysia."
As concerns over the Middle East's ability to supply importers with LNG increases, interest will shift to countries such as Cyprus and Israel, which only recently discovered hydrocarbon reserves, as well as to East Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.
"Israel will come with LNG sooner than later," Broggi said. While he doubted that Iran would manage to export its first cargo of LNG in 2013, as expected by some, "one day [the Iranians] will come out with it," he added.
