Executives in the oil sector are setting their sights on building new multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants after a four-year lull in investments. Increasing oil prices and healthy demand from countries such as China and India indicate that the industry is ready for new LNG projects. A major turning point that facilitated this change was China’s increase in LNG imports in recent years in order to fight pollution by reducing the use of coal.

Qatar is the largest LNG producer globally, and is making plans to increase its facilities by approximately 33% to be able to produce 100–108 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2023–2024. Companies such as Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and ConocoPhillips are expected to collaborate on this Qatari project, as well as other long-term partners.

According to experts, the LNG market needs more than 200 mtpa of new supply until 2030, and expansions to liquefaction capacity are expected to sharply decline in late 2019 due to newly commissioned plants reaching their maximum capacity. The US is expected to be the greatest driver of growth.

Source: Reuters