Australia on the brink of becoming largest LNG exporter by 2020

LIVERPOOL (Scrap Monster) : According to estimates released by a British business process research group, Australia may surpass Qatar to become the largest exporter of LNG by 2020.

The new study released by Lloyd’s Register this week indicates that there are a series of new LNG projects which are expected to be online in the next 5 to 6 years. Although Qatar will continue to remain as a strong LNG exporter of the world, the commissioning of the new facilities will help Australia overtake Qatar in exports. The report also states that the demand from India and China is poised to increase hugely in the coming years.

The LNG production and exports from the Middle East countries will be limited by export infrastructure constraints and technical and economic restraints in the production fields.

The global LNG fleet could easily double towards the end of 2030. The current fleet of 38 million gross tons is expected to reach at least 75 million gross tons by 2030.

In terms of LNG carrier ownership, Africa and China may challenge the current dominance of Middle East, Europe and Japan. The Western Europe which presently owns 29% share of the total LNG carriers will see the ownership share reducing to 21% to 23% by 2030. China may surpass Western Europe by owning 24% share of the carriers.

China, Vietnam and Philippines may eat into the shares of current global leaders in shipbuilding activities. Current global leaders-South Korea and Japan will witness fall in market share by 2030. The South Korean market share is expected to fall to 22% whereas that of Japan is expected to fall to 9% to 10%.

The total LNG tanker deliveries is poised to rise from 4 million gross tons in 2006-2010 to at least 5 million gross ton in 2026-2030.

The Lloyd’s Register Group is one of the world leaders in assessing business processes and products to internationally recognized standards. It provides independent assurance to companies operating high-risk, capital-intensive assets in the energy and transportation sectors, to enhance the safety of life, property and the environment.