By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 15 -- Capital expenditures for global LNG projects during the 2003-07 period are expected to nearly double the $20 billion spent during the previous 5-year period, said UK analysts Douglas-Westwood Ltd.
"We expect over $39 billion to be spent over the period to 2007, over half of which ($20.5 billion) will be spent on constructing a total of 18 new liquefaction trains. LNG carriers are expected to attract the next largest share of the forecast spend, and we anticipate that the fleet will expand to over 200 vessels by 2007, at a cost of some $11 billion," said Douglas-Westwood analyst Steven Robinson.
Nearly $7.5 billion is expected to be spent on developing import terminal capacity, with 21 new import terminals forecast, along with the expansion of two existing terminals, said The World LNG & GTL Report, released at the Offshore Europe exhibition in Aberdeen.
In terms of new liquefaction capacity, the report anticipates new facilities will offer a total of 78 million tonnes/year of additional output capacity on stream between 2003-07.
Regionally, most new production capacity will be in Africa, followed by Asia, and the Middle East.
"Overall, we anticipate that Asia will be the leading region in terms of total expenditure, attracting a capex of nearly $17 billion over the 5-year period. This represents 40% of the total spend, with activity in this region driven mainly by a large number of orders for LNG carriers, the majority of which have been placed with Korean shipyards," Robinson said.
The report is based on analysis of data contained in The LNG & GTL Projects Database, a new service soon to be launched by Douglas-Westwood and the UK-based OTM Consulting.
New import terminals are likely to face challenges in some regions. Although the LNG industry has an excellent safety record, local opposition to new facilities is common and could strengthen based upon terrorism concerns, the report said, adding that this is particularly a problem in North America and Western Europe.