RISING EXPECTATIONS FOR LNG
Two years have passed since CERA issued its pioneering liquefied natural gas (LNG) study The New Wave: Global LNG in the 21st Century. Events during 2002-03 and into 2004 strongly support the conclusion then that LNG has entered an era of unprecedented expansion. Resource-owners across the globe are looking to LNG to monetize previously stranded assets, while policymakers identify LNG as critical to providing clean and cost-effective energy. In this Special Report, CERA has revisited and updated the original study in the light of industry developments. We conclude that the prospects for LNG growth are improving, and we have revised further upward our medium- and long-term outlooks.
- The LNG industry will construct as much capacity in the next 8 years as the global industry has built in the past 40-and as an industry will have to work five times more rapidly.
- North America has emerged as the region with the largest scope for growth of LNG imports over the next decade and beyond.
- The larger integrated oil and gas companies have singled out LNG as one critical vehicle for achieving organic growth.
- The main challenges that LNG faces are winning public acceptance, arranging financing, and developing projects within tight time schedules.
