World gas market to remain tight in next two years

SINGAPORE (Xinhua) - The global market for natural gas is expected to remain tight for at least the coming two years, despite US shale gas capacities coming on stream gradually, Qatargas' chief executive officer said on Monday.

Delivering a keynote speech at the Singapore International Energy Week, Sheikh Khalid Bin Khalifa Al-Thani said that his assessment is based on that there will be no major changes to the supply side by at least the end of 2015, while there is stable demand growth.

The overall global energy demand has grown by 2.5 percent per annum during the past decade, while the demand for natural gas in non-OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries has increased at over 4 percent per year, Al-Thani said in a question and answer page of the energy week website.

"The favorable characteristics of LNG (liquefied natural gas) in that it is an affordable, clean burning and reliable fuel that can be used efficiently in power generation and by industrial, commercial and domestic consumers, have led to the rapid growth in LNG deliveries to all four corners of the world," he said.

Al-Thani said that the LNG demand has risen by almost 150 percent during the last ten years and is forecast to further double within the next 15 years.

Some of the industry players have said that they expect the US shale gas capacities coming on stream to have an impact on the supply and demand situation and the price in the global market for natural gas.

Nevertheless, Al-Thani said that large scale production of shale gas seems some way off commercialization in other parts of the world where various considerable technical and regulatory hurdles still exist. LNG is produced and delivered today and is meeting energy needs all over the world, consistently and reliably.

The chief executive of Qatargas, the world's largest producer and exporter of natural gas, also said that the company has always sought to maintain a long-term partnership with its clients in Asia, and that most of the contracts are long-term, too.

He said Japan is the founding client of the company, while China is also increasing important. The company is giving support to partners like CNOOC and PetroChina to expand their infrastructure.

The company also delivered the first ever LNG cargo to Singapore earlier this year as the free trade hub launched its LNG terminal.