Woodside Expects Asia Pacific to Continue to Account for 70-80% of Global LNG Demand

From 2020, the expected annual average growth rate for global LNG demand is about three per cent and the Asia-Pacific region will continue to account for 70-80 percent of global demand, according to Woodside Chairman Michael Chaney.

Chaney while addressing company’s annual general meeting on Thursday said that despite the current uncertainty, demand for LNG continues to grow.

Demand growth is shifting away from the cornerstone markets of Japan, Korea and Taiwan and toward China, India and South-east Asia, he said.

“We think that LNG from the United States could represent about 15-20 per cent of supply into the global market. It’s clear that LNG from other supply sources will be needed and we see strong competition between proposed projects in Australia, East Africa and Canada. Woodside’s experience as a reliable supplier of LNG over 30 years, plus our commitment to innovation, technology and reducing our cost structures mean that we are well placed to compete on the global stage,” Chaney stated.

However, he stressed that the Australian LNG industry, Australian governments and people need to do all they can to address cost and productivity challenges.

CEO and Managing Director Peter Coleman said that the company is growing new markets in the Asia-Pacific, with clear potential in India and Singapore.

Highlighting the fact that there is expected to be real competition for LNG supply after 2020, Coleman stated that if projects don’t take FID now, then there could be supply shortfall from as early as 2021.

“I think Woodside projects are well placed to fill this void. Among our developments, our Browse project will be ready to enter the front-end engineering and design phase around mid-year, with a FID scheduled for 2016,” Coleman said.