Wow..

China, India fuelling LNG demand hike: Coleman
Thursday, 27 October 2011

WOODSIDE Petroleum believes Chinese and Indian demand for LNG may increase by up to six times by 2025 and has urged workers to move to Western Australia.

Courtesy of Woodside Petroleum

Speaking at the Commonwealth Business Forum in Perth yesterday, Woodside chief executive officer Peter Coleman said the increase in LNG demand was due to Asia increasing its reliance on cleaner energy sources.

He added it served to fuel the boom in Australian LNG production, which has 77 million tonnes of LNG capacity in existence or under construction at the moment.

The figure would increase to more than 125MMt per annum if all projects proceeded as scheduled, though he warned Australia needed to improve its export infrastructure.

Coleman said workers in the east coast of the country had to move west if Australia was to meet Asian demand for resources.

“A substantial part of Australia’s skilled workforce needs to move west if we’re to meet the ever growing demands from our region for resources and energy,” the Australian Associated Press quoted Coleman as saying.

He said the government could help by putting in place taxation and industrial relations policies aimed at boosting productivity.

Coleman added rules for bringing in skilled workers should be relaxed and Australia should integrate with Asia and not retreat into protectionism.