Wood Mackenzie Consultants co-head of LNG Frank Harris said over the next 10 years, Asian LNG demand is forecast to grow 43% to 197.4 million tonnes, according to Wood Mackenzie.
However, Indonesia said this week it would not extend some contracts to export the fuel after 2010, because it needed to meet domestic demands.
In addition, Harris said Malaysia could struggle to supply gas to its LNG plant, while Qatar had a moratorium on additional exports and Iran’s future as an LNG supplier looked increasingly uncertain.
Australia already has two major LNG projects operating - the North West Shelf development and Darwin LNG. Both are likely to be expanded further.
Two more projects - Woodside’s $A5 billion Pluto LNG gas project and the Chevron-operated Gorgon venture - are due to start up in 2010. Half-a-dozen other projects have been mooted, including Inpex's Icthys development, the Woodside-led Browse LNG hub, the Timor Sea Greater Sunrise project and BHP's Pilbara LNG project, based on the Scarborough field.
