Platts: Australia's Santos says LNG to fill half of Asian gas needs by 2030

More than half of Asia's gas needs will be supplied by LNG by 2030, Santos Ltd CEO David Knox said Thursday, adding that this will provide the Australian LNG exporter opportunities to grow.

Speaking from the Brisbane Mining Club, Knox also said the gap between supply and demand for LNG will be about 100 million mt/year of LNG by 2050 thanks to Asia's increasing reliance on imported fuel, adding that LNG's share of total Asian gas supply could grow to 52% from the current 35% by 2030.

"The market we operate is a very competitive one," Knox said, outlining Australia's need to adopt new technologies for both onshore and offshore liquefaction facilities in order to drive down the cost of developing projects in the country, which has seen huge cost blowouts in recent years.

Santos has already invested in three LNG projects: Darwin LNG, Papua New Guinea and Gladstone. MORE