Asia Market

Demand for liquefied natural gas has been flat recently, but liquefaction/LNG export capacity is on the rise. The resulting supply/demand imbalance along with the crash in crude oil prices has sent LNG prices to unexpectedly low levels, and raises questions about the competitiveness of all the new Australian and U.S. projects coming online in 2016-20. Today, we continue our examination of the fast-changing international market for LNG with a look at the new capacity being added to an already saturated LNG market, and how U.S. LNG exporters might fare in a hyper-competitive world.

Depending on whom you believe, the international liquefied natural gas (LNG) market is either struggling through a period of oversupply and rock-bottom prices or poised for a new round of demand growth based on that low-cost supply abundance. (Hint: The answer may well be both of the above.) For electric and natural gas utilities that want to become LNG importers as quickly—and as cheaply--as possible, an increasingly popular option is buying or (more likely) chartering a floating storage and regasification unit, or FSRU. Today, we look at the growing use of FSRUs and how they may boost the LNG market.

The development of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities is picking up steam. Four projects—Sabine Pass LNG, Cameron LNG, Cove Point LNG, and Freeport LNG—are now under construction (up from only one this past summer), and Sabine Pass is only a year or so away from liquefying and exporting its first LNG. But what about Western Canada? It’s got tremendous LNG export potential, but project proposals continue to face headwinds from cost concerns, regulatory uncertainty and the most recent hurdle – lower oil prices. Today, we consider the latest news on efforts to move Western Canadian gas to Japan and other overseas markets.