The European Autumn Gas Conference started in Paris Tuesday with an upbeat assessment about the LNG and natural gas business in Europe, and the ability of European players to make their presence felt in LNG projects in the Asia-Pacific region.
The EAGC, which has brought together more than 400 energy executives from Europe and beyond, heard GDF-Suez Vice Chairman and President Jean-Francois Cirelli giving the opening address, and saying that the fundamentals for natural gas and LNG had evolved in the past years.
He cited the start-up of the Gate LNG terminal in Rotterdam as a positive development as it boosts LNG imports for Europe, while the new Nord Stream and Medgaz pipelines underpinned energy security.
He said GDF-Suez itself was pursuing the growing LNG opportunities available in the Asia-Pacific region, with on the one hand its plans to provide more LNG import facilities for China, as well as its Bonaparte Floating LNG project offshore Australia.
GDF-Suez , one of the world's largest buyers of natural gas and recently signed a deal with China National Oil Corp. to help develop its import capacity by providing Floating Storage and Regasification Units to be deployed for LNG imports into Northeast China.
However, he also said that the regulatory environment had to improve in Europe, particularly the European Commission's energy plan.
He criticized Brussels bureaucrats for failing to provide a "pragmatic and foreseeable regulatory environment." Cirelli said there was a lack of "visibility" in the current policies.
In the meantime, companies such as GDF-Suez would continue to invest. One area the French company is tackling is the shortage of natural gas storage in Europe and Cirelli said his company would be by investing in new storage projects in the UK, France and Germany.
