The expansion of LNG production capacity through 2020 is set to further increase the share of LNG in the world's future energy mix, according to the 2016 International Gas Union (IGU) World LNG Report, launched Tuesday at the LNG 18 Conference in Perth, Western Australia.
"The LNG industry has developed to a point where the necessary foundations have been built to turn natural gas into a truly global commodity, enhancing both energy security and meeting growing demand," said IGU President David Carroll.
Currently, natural gas accounts for roughly a quarter of global energy demand, of which 9.8% is supplied as LNG.
LNG trade in total reached 244.8 million mt in 2015, up by 4.7 million mt from 2014 and the highest level on record, surpassing the previous high of 241.5 million mt in 2011.
Although the Pacific basin remains the largest source of demand, growth was driven by Europe and the Middle East, where new regasification markets in Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Poland are benefiting from near record-low prices.
The decline in oil prices and growing weakness in Pacific demand led global LNG price markers to fall from an average of $15.60/MMBtu in 2014 to $9.77/MMBtu in 2015.
In 2015, global liquefaction capacity reached 301.5 million mt/year, while a further 142 million mt/year of capacity was under construction as of January 2016.
Final investment decisions occurred for a combined capacity of 20 million mt/year at Sabine Pass T5, Corpus Christi T1-2, Freeport LNG T3, and Cameroon FLNG.
Lastly, the prevalence of more flexible contracts and the delivery of commissioning cargoes from new projects in Australia and Indonesia contributed to the growth in non long-term trade -- contracts of less than five years -- to 71.9 million mt in 2015, accounting for 29% of the total LNG trade.
