The growth of liquefied natural gas exports to power much of the world is pushing against “anti-globalization” sentiments creeping up around the globe, FuelFix.com reports.
Michael Stoppard, IHS Markit chief global gas strategist, says shipping LNG on vessels across oceans will increasingly help fuel both the developing and developed world from emerging Asian markets to Europe to Latin America.
“LNG has moved from being a continental or regional business to being a, dare I say, globalized business,” Stoppard says. “It is gas and not oil that will lie at the heart of your global volume growth.”
Annual global gas demand for LNG will grow from 3.6 trillion cubic meters to 5.4 trillion cubic meters by 2040, he says. “We keep looking for oil and finding gas,” Stoppard says of exploration efforts.
Via the expanded Panama Canal, even Peru shipped some LNG to the United Kingdom in February. Royal Dutch Shell was the buyer. “If that isn’t global I don’t know what is,” Stoppard says.
The three global hubs for LNG exports will be Qatar, Australia and increasingly the United States, especially along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. That started early last year when Houston-based Cheniere Energy began shipping LNG from its Sabine Pass Terminal in Cameron Parish near the Texas border. A slew of other projects are underway.
