Natural gas industry’s expansion

SYDNEY—Growth in the global trading of liquefied natural gas accelerated last year to 7.8 percent, driven by a 21-percent surge in European imports, an LNG importers group said.
       Worldwide trade rose to 141.7 million metric tons last year, with Japan remaining the world’s largest importer, accounting for 41 percent of the total, the Paris-based GIIGNL said in its 2005 report. Japanese imports rose 1.8 percent, while imports into France, Portugal and Spain jumped by more than 20 percent. GIIGNL, or Groupe International des Importateurs de Gaz Naturel Liquefie, which comprises 51-member companies across 16 countries, said world demand for natural gas rose 3.3 percent last year, and LNG accounted for 21 percent of gas traded.
       “Indonesia was still the leading exporter, with 16.6 percent of all exports, but it was very close to Malaysia with 15.3 percent,” the report said. Qatar accounted for 14.5 percent of exports, followed by Algeria, it said.
       US imports fell 1.4 percent to 16.94 million tons as growth in purchases stalled amid high prices.
       The number of LNG cargoes traded through spot and short-term contracts of less than four years jumped 11 percent to 348 last year and accounted for 13 percent of world LNG trade. World LNG trade last year involved 15 new country-to-country flows, such as Qatari exports to Belgium and Oman exports to India, the report said.
       The world LNG tanker fleet consisted of 191 vessels at the end of 2005, while another 124 were under construction or on firm order, the group found. Bloomberg