Soaring Growth in Asia LNG Demand
SEOUL, May 14 (Reuters) - Demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia-Pacific countries will reach between 130 and 150 million tonnes per year (tpy) by 2010, the head of the world's biggest LNG exporter said on Monday.
Baihaki Hakim, President and CEO of Indonesia's state-owned Pertamina, said that while traditional markets in Korea, Japan and Taiwan were growing, new markets were also emerging.
"India and China are expected to be the next countries to join the LNG family to supply part of their energy consumption needs in the form of LNG," Hakim told delegates at 13th International LNG Conference in Seoul.
He estimated that emerging markets could add between 15 and 45 million tonnes of LNG demand by 2010.
"We believe that the driving force behind these new expansions is primarily due to electrical power generation, followed by city gas usage as well as petrochemical and other industrial uses," he said.
Hakim said regional suppliers will also see demand from the United States, where there are plans for a series of LNG import terminals in the most populous state, California.
Others were more modest in their demand growth outlook.
Fereidum Fesharaki, a leading energy economist at the Hawaii-based East-West Center, predicted Asia-Pacific LNG demand would reach 115.6 million tonnes in 2010, up almost 60 percent from the forecast level of 73.5 million tonnes in 2000.
Regional Supply Gap By 2010
Hakim said annual production capacity in the Asia-Pacific region from existing, expanded and new plants would reach about 80 million tonnes over the next ten years.
"This still leaves us with a supply gap of between 50 and 70 million tonnes in 2010," he said.
He said developments such as deregulation of energy markets in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan - the region's biggest LNG buyers - would bring challenges to suppliers.
In Japan, where most gas buyers were large utilities more or less related to their respective state authorities, smaller companies were being encouraged to conduct direct purchases.
A similar situation is occuring in South Korea and Taiwan where the governments aim to introduce competition by breaking up the gas import monopoly held by Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) and Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC), respectively.
As competition is set to get tougher in consumer countries, buyers are seeking more flexibility under existing contracts, Hakim said. |
