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Japan's revised energy landscape will see it import an additional 18 to 20 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) over and above long-term LNG contracts in 2012, delegates at EMART Asia were told. The energy trading event kicked off earlier this week at the Singapore International Energy Week.
The forecast was made by Simon Ellis, LNG Analyst of ICIS, who pointed to the uncertainty of the recommissioning of the country's nuclear power plants.
Ellis said: "This unclear situation will drive Japanese procurement of further LNG volumes."
Going forward--with the prospect of growing LNG demand--Ellis recommended that Asian spot prices should be based on the East Asia Index (EAX). This is where a single value is published daily for two forwarding months. The value would be an arithmetic average of LNG price quotes in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China.
He added that there were benefits for doing so in terms of establishing transparent trading: A firm bid and offer table would be published daily for East Asia, including the history of trades.
Maalouf said: "However, for gas to become the new oil, LNG will need to turn into a global commodity and we need a global LNG market. Singapore can play a central role in making that happen. A global energy market does not yet exist, some believe that it will not exist, some believe it will. But I'm optimistic this will happen."
BY : Sharon Tan, EMA