LATEST ASIA-PACIFIC LNG DEVELOPMENTS: HOW AUSTRALIA CAN BENEFIT

Abstract

Australia has ample gas reserves to meet the growing demands of domestic markets to well beyond 2020. Even if Australia were to supply all of its domestic electricity market for the next 20 years by natural gas, vast untapped reserves would still remain. Australia needs to export its surplus gas to monetise it within a reasonable timeframe, and LNG is still the most cost-effective way of doing this.

This paper examines the potential supply factors that Australia must contend within an increasingly deregulated and competitive export world. Innovative ideas are required to keep Australia at the forefront of the LNG market, ahead of competitors in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East. The opening up of the west Americas for Australian LNG, along with reduced manufacturing and shipping costs and the establishment of alliances with LNG consuming countries are all positive and necessary factors to ensure that Australia’s gas resources are developed within an acceptable timeframe.