Updated Aug 30, 2024
8/30/24
LNG Correspondent
London, UK
European natural gas prices remained strong this week after Norway announced additional capacity cuts due to unplanned maintenance works, adding more uncertainty to Europe’s supply and demand balance.
If global natural gas demand continues at the same pace as the previous four years, rising consumption could exceed output, resulting in a steep supply shortfall by 2030 without additional investment in production, the International Gas Union (IGU) warned in its 2024 Global Gas Report.
As concrete pouring and substantial site preparation begins at the Woodfibre LNG project in British Columbia (BC), project partners are targeting for the facility to be Canada’s second operational terminal.
Woodside Energy Group Ltd. is betting on a big future for LNG and the U.S. Gulf Coast’s role in it after making a bold move last month to acquire Tellurian Inc. and its Driftwood liquefied natural gas export project in Louisiana.
Despite efforts to ban Russian natural gas imports, Europe has been taking in more of it as higher spot prices in the Pacific Basin in recent weeks have drawn more American supplies toward Asia.
While U.S. LNG supply is poised to skyrocket by the end of the decade, little new export capacity will come online this year, and additional volumes are expected to climb slowly through next year and into 2026 as projects work through various setbacks.
The five-year natural gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine is due to expire at the end of the year, halting around 13.7 billion cubic meters (Bcm) of supply the European Union (EU) would need to replace with additional Norwegian pipeline and LNG imports to meet current demand.
State-owned LNG terminal operator Deutsche Energy Terminal GmbH (DET) reported it received no bids for capacity during its latest contracting period, attributing the lack of interest to low natural gas prices in Europe.
Extreme temperatures and plant outages in the Pacific basin have pushed Asian spot LNG prices upward, creating more competition in the market and boosting spot shipping rates.
The UK’s new Labour government won in a landslide election earlier this month and has promoted the island country as a “clean energy superpower,” moving away from the previous government’s emphasis on oil and natural gas.