Analysis of the effectiveness of consumer collaborations in Asia-Pacific LNG market

Abstract

The effectiveness of consumer collaborations in Asia-Pacific LNG market is evaluated in view of improving supply stability and investment efficiency. LNG demand fluctuates in accordance with the temperature while supply of LNG is rather constant under inflexible purchase contract. Some consumer countries are recently establishing collaborative relations as swapping excessive LNG cargos aiming at reducing gap between LNG supply and demand. The change of demand-supply gap is analyzed through statistical method by using actual 2007 data and the effectiveness of consumer collaboration is evaluated based on the demand-supply gap in 2007. The analysis was also extended to future LNG market in 2030. The result shows that significant benefit is observed for the 2007 analysis as the level of reserve fluctuation is decreased. Furthermore, investment requirement in receiving terminal is reduced. It also shows that the demand fluctuation is still obvious in 2030. The usefulness of consumer collaboration is also shown to be enhanced toward 2030 as the benefits are expanded in most of the countries. The analysis also suggested that exporters can be benefitted from the consumer collaborations through the stabilization of export fluctuations. It means that mutually beneficial relations are possible between consumers and producers in Asia-Pacific LNG market.