Asia’s LNG demand to resume upward trajectory post-2023 [Gas in Transition]

Asia’s LNG demand to resume upward trajectory post-2023 [Gas in Transition]

-
Natural Gas News
Asia’s LNG demand to resume upward trajectory post-2023 [Gas in Transition]

Summary

Although Asian LNG imports stalled in 2022 and have yet to bounce back with vigour this year, new countries are entering the market and investment in regasification capacity and downstream infrastructure remains strong. [Gas in Transition, Volume 3, Issue 6] by: Ross McCracken

Asian LNG demand has underwhelmed so far in 2023, after a lacklustre 2022, but structural growth in the region’s LNG import capacity, backed by investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure is strong. New countries are entering the market, China’s regasification capacity is expanding rapidly, while India remains committed to boosting substantially gas’ share of the energy mix at the expense of coal. As a result, Asian LNG demand should return to growth but is also shifting towards more price-sensitive and less creditworthy markets (see figure 1). Two countries in the region have or are about to receive their first LNG cargoes. In April, the Philippines saw the arrival of LNG carrier Golar Glacier, which delivered a commissioning cargo for the country’s first LNG terminal located in Batangas Bay near Manila. The terminal has a capacity of 3mn mt/yr and is expected to be followed by a second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) also in Batangas this year, adding a further 5mn mt/yr of capacity. Developer First Gen Corp, which owns four gas-fired power plants with capacity of 2 GW, expects to receive the com...