Asia is expected to account for the highest global LNG regasification capacity increases. The region is forecast to contribute about 69% of the total regasification capacity additions by 2024.
According to GlobalData, Asia is likely to see total regasification capacity additions of 11.1 trillion cubic feet by 2024. Out of this total, planned projects capacity that had received the necessary development approvals accounted for nearly 7.9 trill cu ft.
“Asia is witnessing the start of operations of 53 new-build LNG regasification terminals by 2024. Out of these, 39 are planned and the remaining 14 are announced terminals,” Haseeb Ahmed, GlobalData’s Oil and Gas analyst, commented.
China’s Tangshan II is the largest upcoming LNG regasification terminal with a capacity of 584 bill cu ft by 2024, followed by Son My II with a capacity of 450 billion.
China to overtake Japan as worlds’ largest LNG buyer by 2025
The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects China to overtake Japan as the world’s biggest LNG buyer with imports of 128 Bcm a year by 2025, equivalent to around 174 million tonnes. But IEA analysts cautioned this scenario is “highly dependent on China’s future policy direction” and whether that includes an ongoing push for coal-to-gas switching for industry, residential heating and power generation.
Japanese power utilities’ LNG demand has partially recovered thus far in August, due to high temperatures, specifically in western Japan. However, the demand outlook for autumn and winter remains bearish, due to weak economic activity, which has dampened industrial sector demand, according to a S&P Platts Analytics report.
Even a colder winter than forecast may not translate to additional imports for Japanese power and gas utilities, as their commitment to long-term contract volumes for winter is high, market sources said. Furthermore, many Japanese end-users have continuously deferred their earlier commitments for this year, due to weak demand and high inventory.
