As LNG demand catches up - spurred by cheap prices, new consumers, floating regasification, the rise of gas in transportation, more electrification, and tighter emissions standards - the market will tighten by 2023, predicts consultancy Energy Aspects. That seems some way off, but as the near-term glut clears another 75m t/y of supply will be needed by 2025. To meet that need, the decisions to add capacity must be taken soon. So for all the sector's gloom now, producers must look ahead; using the pause to find more liquefaction efficiency (think modular construction, floating LNG, brownfield expansions) and marketing flexibility (think shorter contracts, less oil indexation, hubs, derivatives). Developers must put their faith in the cycle, remembering it will turn. They must keep building, preparing the market for consumers that may not even yet be born.
LNG: Gloomy now, brighter soon
China Gas Holdings Ltd. expects natural gas sales to grow 20% in the current fiscal year as lower prices and the country’s push to replace coal with cleaner fuels spur consumption. The fuel distributor, which runs most city gas projects in China, plans to sell 12 Bcm of natural gas in the year ending March, up from 10 Bcm in the previous period, executive Chairman Liu Minghui said in a briefing in Hong Kong Tuesday. Chinese authorities in November reduced prices for the fuel in an effort to encourage usage.
China gas targets 20% growth as lower prices boost demand
The market shook off a closely-followed industry report that showed a fourth weekly rise in the last five in the number of U.S. oil rigs operating. According to oil services firm Baker Hughes, producers added 11 oil rigs this week, the biggest increase since December, signalling a near-two year rout in drilling may have ended. [RIG/U] "Higher rigs indicate higher production, but we're still down by more than 300 rigs from a year ago, so no one's really too worried about it for now," said Phil Flynn, analyst at the Price Futures Group brokerage in Chicago.
Oil jumps on pre-holiday buying, Brent up 4 percent on week | Reuters
The number of earthquakes in Oklahoma has fallen 25% in 2016 compared with a year earlier, a decline attributed in part to actions by state regulators to police the oil and gas industry’s practice of pumping wastewater from its operations deep underground
Oklahoma Quakes Decline Amid Curbs on Energy Industry’s Disposal Wells - WSJ