Market sees strong demand for LNG
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Mon, 02 Mar 2020 16:20:15 +0000
GLOBAL demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) grew by 12.5 percent to 359 million tonnes in 2019, according to Shell’s latest annual LNG Outlook’ a significant increase that bolsters LNG’s growing role in the transition to a lower-carbon energy system.
2019 saw key developments that are helping to reshape the industry, namely: an industry record of 40 million tonnes of additional supply becoming available and being consumed by the market; the belief in long-term demand growth triggering record investment decisions in liquefaction capacity of 71 million tonnes; an increase in diversity of contractual structures, providing a wider range of options to LNG buyers; the growing role of gas in improving air quality through coal-to-gas switching in the power and industrial sectors, with coal generation phase-out announcements more than trebling.
Natural gas emits between 45 and 55 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions and less than one-tenth of the air pollutants than coal when used to generate electricity.
“The global LNG market continued to evolve in 2019 with demand increasing for LNG and natural gas in power and non-power sectors,” said Maarten Wetselaar, Integrated Gas and New Energies director at Shell. “Record supply investments will meet people’s growing need for the most flexible and cleanest-burning fossil fuel.”
“While we see weak market conditions today due to record new supply coming in, two successive mild winters and the Coronavirus situation, we expect equilibrium to return, driven by a combination of continued demand growth and reduction in new supply coming on-stream until the mid-2020s.”
View Shell’s LNG Outlook 2020 at www.shell.com/lngoutlook