June 14, 2018 – Seatrade Maritme News
US LNG exports reshaping global shipping flows
The tide has now shifted now shifted for US LNG exports resulting in a reshaping of global shipping flows.
By: Barry Parker
According to US consultancy RBN Energy, “Three years ago, US lower-48 LNG exports were zero. Today that number is above 3.0 Bcf/d.” This equates to roughly 14m tons of LNG, if annualised. Consultants McKinsey, in their Feb. 2018 Energy Insights newsletter, wrote: “this rise in US exports has already begun to change the global LNG flow patterns: US LNG has reached European markets where it has displaced Middle Eastern supplies, and some volumes have already reached Asian markets.”
They forecast the US having capacity to export 52m tons of LNG in 2022, compared to approximately 14m tons annual capacity at end 2018.
RBN’s recent analysis makes important distinctions about the nature of US LNG compared to that from competing exporters. They describe most LNG liquefaction plants around the world as “being built in producing regions where the only viable market alternative for gas production is expensive liquefaction and export.” Compare that with the States, where “US natural gas supplies have numerous alternatives: domestic demand, storage, pipeline export (to Mexico or Canada), or export in the form of LNG.” ...
Read the full article here: http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/news/americas/us-lng-exports-reshaping-global-shipping-flows.html
