Global LNG Investment to Peak at $42 Billion in 2024

As the energy crisis continues to spread around the world and countries scramble for reliable energy sources, investment in new LNG infrastructure will surge, reaching $42 billion by 2024, according to consultancy Rystad Energy. It is 200 times the amount in 2020. At that time, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the global LNG project investment was only 2 billion US dollars. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the sanctions and restrictions imposed by Europe and the United States on Russia led to a natural gas supply crisis in Europe, which promoted the surge in LNG project investment in the short term. main reason.

According to Rystad Energy, investment in new LNG projects will be relatively stable in 2021 and 2022 at US$28 billion and US$27 billion respectively, rising to US$32 billion in 2023 and a surge to a peak of US$42 billion in 2024 , after which investment will decline and fall back to around 2020 levels, at $2.3 billion in 2029. By 2030, global natural gas demand will increase by 12.5% on the current basis, from about 4 trillion cubic meters to about 4.5 trillion cubic meters, and natural gas demand in the Americas will remain relatively stable, of which the United States accounts for 30% of global energy demand. %, the special demand in the Asia-Pacific region will soar with strong economic growth and government support, from about 900 billion cubic meters to 30% to about 1.16 trillion cubic meters, accounting for about 25% of total global demand. Thanks to new project investment, global LNG supply will almost double in the next few years, from about 380 million tons per year in 2021 to about 636 million tons in 2030, and will peak at 705 million tons in 2034.

As for the source of new LNG projects, the United States will strengthen its position as the largest LNG exporter as rising domestic supply and rising prices in Europe and Asia spur exports. The $10 billion Golden Pass LNG project in Texas, a joint venture between Qatar Energy (70%) and ExxonMobil (30%), is expected to begin production in 2024, adding a total of approximately 1,800 to the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. 10,000 tons of export capacity. Venture Global's Plaquemines LNG project in Louisiana was approved earlier this year with an investment of $13.2 billion and is expected to produce about 24 million tons and will start production in 2025. Qatar, Mozambique and Russia are also catching up. Among them, Qatar is already a major LNG producer, and its goal is to increase its LNG export capacity from the current 77 million tons to 126 million tons by 2027; Russia mainly relies on Novatek (Novatek). ), but the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has increased the uncertainty of its further expansion; Mozambique will achieve its first LNG production by the end of 2022 through the Coral South LNG project, which can supply its domestic market with about approx. 150 million cubic feet of natural gas.