nearly 200 trillion cubic feet of shale gas (Myers, 2010). This
discovery of shale gas in Europe will affect the global LNG export
and imports in near future. Hence, the possibility of shale gas
resources in Europe may solve the problem of gas instability
(demand and supply of natural gas from overseas). However, the
development of shale gas on a large scale in Europe is still
hypothetical. Therefore, on the basis of this point the LNG projects
either under construction or planned to construct might be
canceled, at least for the time being.
5. Conclusions
Natural gas accounts for 10% of the primary energy consumption
in Asia, as compared to 24% in the world. The LNG imports in
Asia have increased nearly fivefold in last decades. Further, it is
expected that Asia’s LNG imports will grow by more than 8% by
next year after waning in 2009 due to recession. India, China,
Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand are new emerging consumer of
LNG in Asia pacific region. Hence, outlook for LNG demand in Asia
Pacific region is very strong.
Further, with decrease in indigenous gas production, Europe is
looking for huge imports of natural gas (in the form of LNG) from
overseas and, clear and effective, policies should be developed at
the European and national level in order to support market
growth and market liquidity. Currently 48% share of natural gas
is imported from outside Europe while by 2030 it will be
approximately 74%.
While U.S. natural gas demand is 26.2 Tcf and is expected to
grow up to 31.4 Tcf by 2025 and so on hence, LNG will become
the largest source of net U.S. imports by 2020, as Canadian
imports decline and then after 2020 U.S. net imports of natural
gas (LNG) are expected to decline as domestic production rises
while the shale gas production may affect these figures.
Because of its abundance, clean burning properties and efficiency
as a fuel for many purposes including automobile fuel and
power generation, LNG is expected to play an increasingly
important role in the natural gas industry and energy markets
in the next several years. Therefore, the global natural gas sector
has a bright future in particular for those involved in LNG.
Worldwide growth in the demand for natural gas and the
availability of large deposits of stranded gas resources has led to
a major expansion of investment interest in liquified natural gas
(LNG) projects. By 2030 overall LNG demand will more than triple
from where it is today and the regional distribution will significantly
change.
Further, growth of LNG trade is required because of the energy
shortage in certain areas, and the problem of environmental
pollution. Improving technology leading to even greater safety
and relative lower costs could enable this requirement to be
satisfied. In conclusion we can say that no fossil fuel will grow
faster than natural gas (in terms of LNG) and readily available
supplies of gas worldwide combined with the enforcement of a
global climate regime and steadily expanding global LNG production
could result in an evolution towards a world gas market, or at
least tighter linkages between today’s regional markets.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a grant from the GAS Plant
R&D Center funded by the Ministry of Land, Transportation and
Maritime Affairs (MLTM) of the Korean government and the
Ministry of Education (MOE) of Korea through its BK21 Program.