World trade in liquefied gas may rise six times by 2030
27-05-04 BHP Billiton, Australia's biggest energy company, said world trade in LNG might rise six fold by 2030 amid plans by China and the US to boost imports, driving a "major" expansion in LNG import plants.
Global trade in LNG was about 23 % of total gas consumption, compared with 57 % for oil, leaving scope for growth, Philip Aiken, the president of BHP Billiton's energy division, said. BHP Billiton is competing with ChevronTexaco, Shell and others to build import terminals to supply the US.
The Melbourne-based company is a partner in the North West Shelf venture, which has a contract to sell about 3.7 mm tpy of LNG to China's Guangdong import terminal.
"LNG will be one of the biggest areas of growth, with a possible six-fold increase in LNG trade by 2030," said Aiken. "Access to world gas will require a major expansion in LNG import facilities and a number of operators, including BHP Billiton, are pursuing applications to construct these facilities," he said.
Donald Argus, the chairman ofBHP Billiton, and Australian Prime Minister John Howard will hold talks in Los Angeles with California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on supplying LNG to help avert a looming shortage in the US.
"LNG imports in the US have to date been less than 2 % of total consumption, but recent studies suggest that the US could be importing 80 mm tpy by 2010," Aiken said.
He said his forecasts were primarily based on data from the International Energy Agency and the US department of energy. Plans for LNG import terminals in China, where primary energy consumption rose 11 % in 2003, were "proliferating", said Aiken. China was likely to look for a diversity of energy supplies as its demand grew, he said.
The Woodside Petroleum-led North West Shelf venture agreed in August 2002 to sell LNG to Guangdong, China's first LNG import terminal, for at least 20 years in an accord worth about A$ 25 bn (R 116.5 bn).
LNG is a gas that has been cooled to liquid form so that it can be loaded on to a ship for transportationto markets that are too far for a pipeline.
Source: Business Report
