Page 7 - GLNG Week 29

GLNG asia GLNG
China to become top LNG importer in 2022
PERfoRmanCE
CHINA could overtake Japan as the world’s largest importer of LNG within three years, energy con- sultancy Wood Mackenzie has predicted. e con- sultancy said China’s import volumes could climb by 37.5% on 2018 levels to 74.1mn tonnes in 2022, while Japanese shipments could shrink by 12% to 72.8mn tonnes.
Japan’s LNG imports edged down 0.8% year on year in 2018 to 82.8mn tonnes, which was the lowest annual gure since 2011. China, on the other hand, boosted its imports by 38% to 53.7mn tonnes.
“While LNG demand is declining, Japanese imports will remain above 70mn tonnes per year [(tpy) throughout] much of the 2020s. It will remain the second largest LNG consumer in the world until at least 2040, with demand still exceeding 60mn tpy. As such, Japan still provides ample opportunities for LNG sellers, particularly as existing contracts expire,” said senior Wood Mackenzie analyst Lucy Cullen.
e consultancy added that Japanese buyers would continue to lead contract innovation, and pointed to developments such as hybrid deals, coal indexation, joint procurement and car- bon-neutral cargoes. Royal Dutch Shell agreed to deliver carbon-neutral cargoes to Tokyo Gas
and GS Energy in June, with the deals being the first of their kind. Tokyo Gas and Shell announced a 10-year supply deal in April that partly used a coal-linked pricing formula. Cul- len said: “ e decline in Japanese imports will be driven by competition from coal, nuclear and renewables in the power sector and slow macro- economic growth.”
The consultancy’s forecast comes as state- owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) unveiled a new strategic agreement to explore potential LNG sales and purchase opportunities. e two sides have also agreed to share their LNG market knowledge and exper- tise as well as evaluate potential partnerships and joint-investment opportunities across the entire LNG value chain.
“The future collaboration opportunities agreed today with CNOOC reinforce ADNOC’s strategic approach to partners that o er technol- ogy, capital or market access to maximise value from Abu Dhabi’s vast oil and gas resources,” UAE Minister of State and ADNOC CEO Sul- tan Ahmad Al Jaber said on July 22. Qatar is the world’s second largest exporter of LNG by capac- ity, trailing only Australia.™
Osaka Gas, JBIC back AG&P
invEstmEnt
OSAKA Gas and Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) have made a major invest- ment in the Philippines-based AG&P Inter- national Holdings, which has made equity investments in various LNG terminals since 2015.
The deal was signed on July 20. AG&P was initially focused on engineering and construction but has expanded into LNG, including the design of vessels. Osaka Gas’ statement noted AGP’s work in “develop- ing the LNG businesses with oating LNG platforms and city gas business to meet the growing demand mainly in Southeast Asia and India”. Osaka Gas launched the Daigas Group in March, focused on growth in over- seas energy sectors.
e Japanese company went on to note its work in Singapore, ailand and Indonesia, in addition to a recent deal with Vietnam. As such, there will be opportunities for it to tap AG&P’s expertise in the LNG business and in developing terminals, power plants and supplies throughout Southeast Asia.
Osaka Gas, via its Osaka Gas Singapore subsidiary, and JBIC acquired a minority stake in AG&P, worth around $100mn. AGP said it
would use the cash on a variety of its LNG ini- tiatives. Among these, it noted a gas distribu- tion business in India, where it is working on terminals in Karaikal and elsewhere. ere is potential for India to increase its use of piped gas for domestic consumption and compressed natural gas (CNG) in vehicles.
e Karaikal facility has initial regasi cation capacity of 1mn tonnes per year (tpy) and is anticipated to come online in 2020.
AG&P is also working on modular technol- ogy and eld construction, operating two yards in the Philippines, where it employs around 4,000 people.
“We have a great responsibility to work very hard for [the new investors] and our other share- holders to continue to grow AG&P’s unique business model that captures a large portion of the LNG value chain a er the molecule has been shipped,” AG&P’s chairman, Jose Leviste, said. “We look forward to changing how the LNG industry works.”
A JBIC o cial, Hiroyuki Nakashima, noted AG&P’s management expertise and the way in which they had been able “to carry out city gas distribution projects in India as well as LNG import terminal projects”.™
Week 29 25•July•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P7