The supply outlook: Australia and the USA

Journal article

High oil prices in the period 2010–14 combined with the impact of growing energy demand in China and the shock of the Fukushima disaster in Japan to create a world in which high LNG prices in Asia (often above $15/ MMBtu) catalysed a wave of new LNG investment. Australia was at the forefront of this wave, and was later joined by the USA, where companies saw an arbitrage opportunity to export the rising tide of cheap shale gas to markets prepared to pay a premium price. As a result, these two countries embarked on a period of construction that, by 2020, will see them having increased their LNG liquefaction capacity by 126 mtpa. Unfortunately, this expansion is being completed at a time when LNG demand expectations are being downgraded, and prices have fallen dramatically; this will have significant consequences for future projects in both countries.

Authors: Henderson, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
• Journal: Oxford Energy Forum
• Volume: 106
• Pages: 4-5
• ISSN: 0959-7727
• Keywords: Oxford Energy Forum; OIES