Minister Gray to Stress Importance of Australian LNG at LNG 17

The importance of Australian liquefied natural gas to global energy security will be highlighted in Texas this week at the world’s largest LNG conference.

Resources Minister Gary Gray will stress Australia’s ability to make a major contribution to meeting the massive increase in demand for energy, particularly natural gas, tipped for the next few decades.

“The International Energy Agency predicts a 50 per cent rise in global demand for natural gas by 2035, making it the world’s fastest growing energy source,” Mr Gray said.

“The global gas trade balance is also shifting to Asia-Pacific, providing Australia with an opportunity to help service the needs of our regional trading partners.

“Australia is well-prepared for the future task, with seven LNG projects now under construction with a combined capacity of about 80 million tonnes per annum.”

More than 5000 industry professionals, 10,000 business leaders and senior officials from more than 80 countries are expected to attend this week’s LNG17.

Australian projects include Western Australia’s Gorgon LNG, which represents the single largest investment in Australia’s resources history and will be operational by the time of LNG18 is held in Perth in April 2016.

“Our three coal seam gas to LNG projects will also have commenced production by the time of the Perth conference, and the world’s first floating LNG project, Prelude, will be on the cusp of operation,” Mr Gray said.

“While challenges such as rising costs and capacity constraints persist, Australia’s commitment to efficient energy markets, labour force development, and investment attraction will allow us to continue to be a major LNG supplier.

“I am very confident about the long-term outlook for the global gas market and look forward to welcoming thousands of representatives from the world’s LNG industry to Perth in 2016 to experience Australia’s growth first-hand.”

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LNG World News Staff, April 15, 2013; Image: minister.ret.gov.au