The Lloyd’s List Podcast: LNG burning too bright?
LNG was burning brightly long before the US-China trade war reshuffled the opportunity-risk balance for several stakeholders, but there are now supply concerns to contend with as well. Incremental LNG demand during the next five years will have been met by new capacities already under construction but there’s much more in the pipeline waiting for more a favourable political climate. So, is supply developing too fast and far ahead of demand? Joining Lloyd’s List editor Richard Meade on this week’s edition of the podcast to discuss the latest LNG trends is our resident LNG expert and Singapore senior reporter, Hwee Hwee Tan
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LIQUEFIED natural gas is still the one bright spot investors want to talk about in shipping.
Around $200bn in projects across the globe from Australia to the US are racing to be approved during the next two years, vying to provide around 65m tonnes of new annual supplies that are needed by 2025.
In fact, the current gold rush towards LNG investment may end up being too much.
Some analysts are now predicting a supply glut from 2025.
But before we get there we have the minor issue of the China-US trade war to contend with.
Developers are slowing the sanctioning of new LNG export capacity in the US on the back of its escalating trade spat with China, which will hold the US back from overtaking Qatar as the world’s largest LNG exporter.
On the other hand Australia’s LNG sector is making the most of its current status as the net beneficiary of the China-US trade tariff war.
Importers now consider Australia more favourably as a supply source, both politically and economically, following China’s move to raise tariff on imports of the fuel from the US.
It’s a complicated picture with few easy answers, so joining Lloyd’s list Editor Richard Meade on this week’s edition of the podcast to discuss the latest LNG trends is our resident LNG expert and Singapore senior reporter, Hwee Hwee Tan.
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