Golden age of natural gas

The US has seen a real shale gas & shale oil revolution, thanks to breakthrough technology for fracking and reduced operating costs. The rapid commercialization of large-scale shale gas production has made the US self-sufficient in gas and has also brought considerable potential for export. Oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) that was expected to be imported by the US, especially from Qatar, was instead made available to Europe and Asia. The massive build-up of LNG supply in recent years was predicated on growing Asian demand, which was anticipated to be 70 to 80 percent of global growth. It was expected that this demand could be sustained at high prices.

It was believed that gas was heading for a golden age of high demand and solid prices to support the massive investments being made globally. LNG was believed to be at the center of this natural gas revolution. As the carbon emissions target set by the international agreement was uncertain before the signing of the climate change agreements in Paris in December 2015, the demand for gas? an eco-friendly fossil fuel compared to others was increasing rather than introducing new and renewable forms of energy. The withdrawal of the United States from the LNG and oil market could potentially also in the future put downward pressure on global oil and gas prices.

Here, I want to take some note of types of global natural gas trade. There are two types of global natural gas trade. Piped natural gas which is PNG and liquefied natural gas which is LNG. As of now, two thirds of global natural gas trade take the form of PNG. In other words, only one third of global natural gas trade is in the form of LNG. Golden age of natural gas means among other things that in the future, the portion of LNG will increase rather than PNG due to US shale gas revolution.