Singapore: The Americas may lead growth in purchases of liquefied natural gas this year and next because of opening of import terminals in Latin America and rising demand in emerging markets, a consultant said.
Countries including Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and the US may boost purchases by more than 50 per cent this year and 15 per cent in 2011, Facts Global Energy said in a report yesterday. Europe may expand purchases by about 5 percent in 2010 and cut imports in 2011 while Asian imports may rebound, it said.
"The US will likely remain a key outlet for Atlantic Basin and Qatari LNG, especially when the partially Qatar Petroleum-owned Golden Pass receiving terminal comes online in the summer of 2010," analysts Sook Ching Wong and Shahriar Fesharaki said in the report.
World LNG trade rose 6.5 per cent last year to about 180 million tons, according to Facts.
Expansion
A decline in Asian LNG imports in 2009 by 2.9 per cent was offset by a 23 per cent growth in Europe and a 36 per cent expansion in the Americas where "markets of last resort" such as the US and the UK absorbed fuel rejected by Asia, Facts said.
Asia, the world's biggest consumer of the frozen fuel, burned 113.6 million tons last year compared with 51 million in Europe and 15.2 million in the Americas.
The Middle East may boost imports of the fuel in 2010 and 2011 because of demand for power generation, Facts said.
