The Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics (ABARE) projects that demand for LNG from the Asia-Pacific region will almost double over the next decade. The growth will be greatest in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, but China, India and the west coast of North America will also have strong increases in LNG demand, ABARE said.

The report predicted demand for LNG would grow from around 83 million tonnes now to between 150 million tonnes and 163 million tonnes by 2015.

“This could provide opportunities for Australia's existing and planning LNG export developments," said ABARE acting executive director Vivek Tulpule.

ABARE said because of the growing demand, there a large increase in the supply of LNG from Asia-Pacific countries would be needed. Australia's current LNG exports – mainly from Western Australia's North West Shelf – total almost 12 million tonnes.

“Potential regional LNG supply capacity over the coming decade is significant, with a large number of expansions and new projects proposed by existing and new suppliers,” Tulpule said

ABARE found Australia was well placed to supply additional LNG, with proposed projects worth almost 40 million tonnes.

“As with other projects in the region, Australia will face strong competition to secure markets in this timeframe, including competition from Indonesia, the Russian Federation and the Middle East,” Tulpule said.

“However, with LNG buyers taking price, flexibility, diversity, political security and reliability into account when making purchasing decisions, the outlook for the Australian LNG industry in the coming decade remains strong.”