50 Years of LNG
Jeff Desjardins
on October 14, 2014 at 6:32 pm
50 Years of LNGOn October 12, 1964, the first commercial shipment of liquified natural gas (LNG) was made between Algeria and Canvey Island in the United Kingdom. From the time of this very first LNG export, there are now 29 countries importing LNG. The amount of vessels carrying LNG at sea has ballooned to 424 LNG carriers with another 127 on order.
Many countries have been more reliant on LNG importing in recent years. Since Fukushima, Japan has now changed its energy mix to rely on LNG for a massive 48% of its power generation. In addition, South Korea uses LNG to meet 25% of its electricity needs. Add in Taiwan, and these three countries import over half of all available supply.
While China was on pace to ramp up LNG imports even higher than its current rate, a recent $400 billion energy deal between Russia and China may help alleviate those needs to some degree.
New global LNG export projects are underway and countries including Canada, Australia, East Africa, and the United States are all looking to get a bigger foothold in the game. These new plays have enough potential to even eventually dethrone Qatar, the world leader since 2006, which recently achieved its production goal of producing 77 million metric tonnes of LNG per year.
Original graphic from: Wood Mackenzie |
