More cooperation among energy companies expected to meet increasing demand for LNG

HOUSTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The world will witness more cooperation among energy companies to meet increasing demand for natural gas, a senior official of an oil and gas company said Monday.

Linhua Guan, chairman of Houston-based Star Energy, told Xinhua that the cooperation between French GTT S.A. and U.S Chevron Transport Corporation is the latest move, which is "a win-win collaboration and it allows both companies to focus on what they are good at."

Last Thursday, GTT announced a 5-year Master Service Agreement signed with Chevron Transport Corporation, under which GTT will support Chevron's maintenance and operation of 10 LNG (Liquefied natural gas) carriers.

The 10 LNG carriers would mostly transporting LNG from Chevron's mega-projects in Australia, namely Gorgon and Wheatstone.

Global natural gas consumption is expected to grow from 340 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2015 to 485 Bcf/d by 2040, primarily in countries in Asia and in the Middle East, based on projections in U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)'s latest International Energy Outlook 2017 (IEO2017). China accounts for more than a quarter of all global natural gas consumption growth between 2015 and 2040.

The projected growth in natural gas consumption in China is driven by environmental policies, relative cost competiveness of natural gas in the industrial and transportation sectors, and relatively high economic growth.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has projected that LNG production capacity would increase fourfold by the end of 2019, making the country the 3rd largest LNG provider after Qatar and Australia.

U.S. LNG exports is growing quickly, and most vessels shipped out of the Mexico Gulf coastal states of Texas and Louisiana.

Cheniere Energy, a Houston-based energy company primarily engaged in LNG-related businesses and owner of the first LNG export terminal in the United States, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China National Petroleum Corp for long-term LNG sales and purchase cooperation.

The agreement was made as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to China last month.

EIA projects China's natural gas consumption to grow from 19 Bcf/d in 2015 to 57 Bcf/d in 2040, surpassing all other countries except the United States, which natural gas consumption is projected to grow at a more modest rate, from 75 Bcf/d in 2015 to 88 Bcf/d in 2040, remaining the world's largest natural gas consumer. Enditem