US and Canada to take 50% of world LNG supply by 2015

[jpak]

http://www.platts.com/Natural%20Gas/News/7470148.xml?p=Natural%20Gas/News&sub=Natural%20Gas&src=energybulletin

The Atlantic Basin by 2015 will account for half of the global liquefied
natural gas trade, an amount equal to the volumes imported by the Asia Pacific
region, which has been the world's leading LNG importer since 2000, according
to forecasts by consultant Poten & Partners.

The most significant contributor to the Atlantic Basin demand growth is
the United States and Canada, which will make up 50% of the Atlantic Basin
LNG demand by 2015, said Poten & Partners' general manager of LNG/Gas
consulting Gabriel Avgerinos Thursday at the Platts LNG conference in Houston.

Poten and Partners is forecasting an "aggressive" LNG import growth to
about 15 Bcf/d by about 2012, higher than the US Energy Information
Administration's predictions of 10 to 15 Bcf/d.

Avgerinos said the actual LNG import contractual commitments by North
America up till 2010 are "tracking relatively close or at about 80% or so of
our LNG import forecast."

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[leftupnorth]

1. LNG tankers are floating bombs

Imagine if a huge tanker of liquified, super dense, high pressure gas pulled in to a large city harbor and someone shot an RPG at it. Kaboom!! granted, it would be less powerful and less environmentally threatening than a nuke, but we (hopefully) wouldn't let a nuke get that close to one of our major cities. These things are a serious threat, and it only takes one lunatic to pull something like that off.

Another illustration that in Bush's America, profit trumps security every time....

[depakid]

2. That should read: US and Canada need 50%

But that doesn't mean they're going to get it.

As Canada falls further down the depletion curve, it will be interesting to see what happens with NAFTA. I have a feeling that the time will come (and sooner than people think) when Canadians will decide they're not going to export so much gas to their greedy and wasteful Southern neighbors.

[hunter]

3. I sorta read it that way too. We'll be wishing we could take 50%

But the dollar may be in rough shape by then, and not worth much in LNG.