Exec sees long-term supply from LNG project

EXXONMobil anticipates the PNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) project will provide a long-term reliable supply of cleaner burning natural gas to help meet growing demand in the Asia Pacific region.
As the global demand growth for LNG increases by about 4% per year through to 2030, about 70 billion cubic feet a day (bcfpd), ExxonMobil expects gas suppliers who are well-positioned like PNG to be favoured in a competitive market.
Manager business planning and analysis ExxonMobil gas and power marketing Emma Cochrane said the company expected total energy demand to increase substantially by 2030, driven by economic progress and population growth.
Meeting this demand, she said, would pose many challenges, including the need for improvements in energy efficiency and developing new supplies with the help of new technology.
“We expect gas growth to be higher than primary energy as a whole and for gas to be the fastest growing conventional fuel. Growth in gas demand will primarily be driven by growing energy requirements for power generation,” Ms Cochrane told the mining and petroleum seminar in Port Moresby last week.
Ms Cochrane, who is based at the company’s headquarters in Houston, Texas, said LNG demand was expected to see significant growth in all of the major markets, growing to newly 70 billion cubic feet a day by 2030.
 “By that timeframe, significant new LNG and pipeline developments will be required to meet the projected demand increase of about 150bcfpd from today and all of the major markets, but especially Europe, will need increased imported supplies.”
 “Based on our outlook, there will be ample opportunity for new gas supply projects. We expect gas suppliers who are well positioned like PNG to be favored in a competitive market,” she said.
According to Ms Cochrane, LNG had a challenging and exciting future as it continued to grow in importance in the world’s energy supply nets, and PNG met all the requirements of a major supplier.