Increasing LNG demand in Europe

Monday 19 August 2013, Amsterdam

Australia is expected to rank among the top five LNG exporting countries in the world by 2014

Asia Pacific will play a pivotal role in the global LNG industry during 2013 - 2017 in terms of planned additions of both liquefaction and regasification capacities. The region has some key natural gas rich countries such as Australia, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia which have planned significant liquefaction capacity additions by 2017. Australia is expected to rank among the top five LNG exporting countries in the world by 2014. Also, the region has some key natural gas consuming countries such as India and China which plan to increase their LNG import capacity in the near future. Consequently, the region will witness rapid development of the LNG liquefaction and regasification capacities.        


Middle East and Africa will Benefit from Increasing European LNG Demand

Middle East and Africa's LNG liquefaction industry is set to benefit from the increasing LNG demand in Europe. Europe's LNG imports are expected to increase significantly in the near term, considering the region's planned regasification capacity addition of 4,294.3 bcf (accounting for around 34.7% of the global planned regasification capacity) by 2017. European countries plan to diversify their natural gas import sources, mainly to lessen their dependence on Russian pipeline gas. In this regard, Europe is looking to increase LNG imports from Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, Qatar and Algeria. In 2012, Middle East and Africa had the largest LNG liquefaction capacity in the world, accounting for around 55% of the global liquefaction capacity. The planned liquefaction capacity in Middle East and Africa will reach 23.7 mmty by 2017 accounting for around 11% of the global planned liquefaction capacity by 2017.