‘Global LNG trade shrank in ’12 on tight supply’

Dow Jones/Singapore The global trade in liquefied natural gas likely shrank last year due to lower overall gas output, and gas producers will focus on meeting a supply shortfall for the next couple of years, a senior BG Group executive said yesterday. Preliminary data show the volume of LNG changing hands declined for the first time in the industry’s history by 2.5mn metric tonnes in 2012, compared with a 19mn-tonne jump a year earlier, Steve Hill, vice president of global LNG and oil marketing at BG Group, said at the LNG Supplies for Asian Markets conference in Singapore. BG Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of LNG. According to its 2012 data book, it had contracted LNG supply of around 13mn tonnes a year. He said higher gas output from some producers was offset by production problems at other companies in Indonesia, Algeria, Malaysia, Egypt and Yemen. Analysts estimate global LNG trade will grow from its current size of 240mn tonnes to around 450mn tonnes by 2025. LNG currently accounts for 10% of global natural gas consumption, with a total of 18 exporting and 26 importing countries, and around 365 ships for transportation.