Low Prices, Increasing Global Supply Plague LNG Producers

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In February last year, we asked the question, "Are U.S. companies being realistic about global LNG prices?" That month, liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices for March 2014 delivery to Asia reached an all-time high of $20.20 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), which had many future LNG producers and exporters in Australia, the U.S. and elsewhere chomping at the bit to complete under-construction LNG projects and commence shipping to these high-dollar markets.

A year later, and February prices for March 2015 delivery to the Asian LNG markets bottomed out at $6.80 per MMBtu. In February, European LNG spot prices topped those of Asia, which had not happened since Japan's Fukushima Dai'ichi nuclear disaster in March 2011.

Although substantial amounts of LNG production are scheduled to be brought online in the next few years, oversupply already seems to be a problem, at least in the near term. Recent Asian demand has been much lower than anticipated, and the restart of some of Japan's nuclear reactors seems inevitable, which would further erode LNG demand.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.