International Gas Union 2020 World LNG Report

The IGU 2020 World LNG Report can be downloaded in pdf format at the IGU website here.

Global LNG trade set a new record in 2019 reaching 354.7 MT, up 13% on 2018. The US (+13.1 MT), Australia (+8.7 MT) and Russia (+11 MT) added the most capacity. Qatar maintained its position as the largest exporter in the world (77.8 MT).  

China imported 7 MT more and Europe 37 MT more while Japan and South Korea both took less LNG. Egypt and Argentina swung from LNG imports to LNG exports. Re-exports fell 59% in 2019 as price differences between the Atlantic and Pacific basins fell.

Only three markets saw a drop in export levels versus 2018: Indonesia and Equatorial Guinea received less feedstock gas; and Norway had longer maintenance at Hammerfest owing to low prices. 

Asia Pacific continued to grow, exporting a total of 131.7 MT in 2019, an increase of 7%, mainly from Australia but also from Papua New Guinea.  

Despite its gas resource size, the Middle East increased exports by only 2% with small increases from Qatar, the UAE and Oman. 

The largest increases in imports were seen in Europe, with the UK, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium accounting for most of the additional imports (+32 MT). 

Europe re-exported 58% of global re-exports in 2019, and France and Singapore had the highest re-export loadings in 2019, re-exporting 0.6 MT and 0.4 MT respectively.  

The United States continued to contribute significantly to LNG project in 2019, totaling 30.1 MTPA.  

In the US, Henry Hub front month prices dropped about 15%, averaging US$2.53 per MMBtu in 2019 despite liquefaction and power generation demand, as total US natural gas supply increased 10% to 935 Bcm in 2019.  

The Marcellus and Utica shales (in the Appalachia Basin) accounted for 45 Bcm of the growth as new pipeline capacity came on line. But associated gas supplies from oil fields have also flooded the US market. 

Liquefaction capacity expansion is set to continue in 2020 and is expected to reach 24.35 MTPA in capacity additions. Liquefaction capacity is forecast to further expand to 454.85 MTPA by the end of 2020, following a record volume of sanctioned projects.

The record volume of sanctioned liquefaction projects is underpinned by the expectation of growing LNG demand globally, creating the need for additional liquefaction capacity. This will also lead to competition to secure EPC capacity, as project developers aim to enter the market by the mid-2020s in order to capture growing demand.

 

Africa had 20.9 MTPA of liquefaction capacity sanctioned in 2019, driven by growing interest in commercialising the continent’s rich gas resources. 

 

As of February 2020, total LNG regasification capacity was 821 MTPA across 37 markets, thanks to the addition of six new terminals and three expansions at existing terminals between 2019 and February 2020. Of the existing LNG markets, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, and Jamaica together built seven terminals, adding 23.4 MTPA in 2019.

 

The LNG shipping industry kept pace, adding 42 new vessels to a total of 541 active vessels by the end of 2019. The active fleet includes 34 FSRUs and 4 FSUs, demonstrating the continued interest in flexible solutions to enable markets to start importing LNG or increase their LNG imports as energy demand grows. 

FSRUs have continued to act as a quick enabler for LNG imports. Bangladesh has two such FSRUs to replace declining gas production. Traditional barriers including project siting limitations, environmental and domestic land use requirements and opportunity costs, investment qualification and availability deficiencies, and policy uncertainties and instabilities will continue to exert pressure against LNG development among prospective importers.