(Picture Credit: EMA)
Delegates at Gas Asia Summit were given a range of detailed insights into the LNG export profiles of key gas producers, notably Qatar, Russia, the US and Papua New Guinea.
Abdulla Al-Husseini, Marketing Director of Qatargas, told the forum that its key market is Asia pre-dominantly led by Japan and China, and that Qatargas will deliver an estimated 55 percent of its 2012 production into the Asia market. Al-Husseini said Qatargas recently signed three long-term Sales and Purchase Agreements (SPA) with Chubu Electric, Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in Japan. This will reinforce Qatar's role as a secure and reliable supplier of LNG to Japan.
He added that Qatargas has delivered LNG cargos to China to deal with its rising energy consumption, and Thailand as part of its commissioning of the PTT LNG Terminal.
The Qatargas Marketing Dead revealed that countries in the Middle East, such as Kuwait and Jordan, are studying the possibility of LNG imports. Qatargas is monitoring developments in these market closely.
Sergei Komlev, Head of Contract Structuring and Price Formation Directorate of Gazprom Export, highlighted that gas is losing its value when it is not linked to oil. He explained that though the volumes of natural gas global exports are only four times lower in US$ value than the sale of oil, the financial markets have disregarded natural gas as an attractive hedging instrument. As a result, gas prices are not supported by the financial markets like many other commodities.
Nicolas Zanen, Vice President, Trading, Cheniere Energy, spoke about two projects initiated by Cheniere Energy--the Sabine Pass Project and the Corpus Christi Liquefaction Project. Adding liquefaction capabilities would transform the LNG terminals into a bi-directional facility capable of liquefying and exporting natural gas, in addition to importing and regasifying foreign-sourced LNG.
Joshua Kalinoe, Managing Director of Petromin, presented on the Papua New Guinea (PNG) LNG Project. This is an integrated development that includes gas production and processing facilities in the Southern Highlands and Western Provinces of PNG, and includes liquefaction and storage facilities with capacity for 6.6 million tonnes per year. There are over 700km of pipelines connecting the facilities.
Kalinoe added that the project will be able to capture new LNG sales into the high-growth Asia-Pacific region; encourage exploration and development in PNG; and provide opportunities for exploration and diversification of the LNG operation.
He concluded that the project will have a significant benefit to PNG's economy. It will be the first export gas development for PNG, and a new source of LNG for the Asia Pacific market.
By :William Tong, EMA