Pacific LNG producers prepare for crunch

There may be little spare capacity in the region

This coming northern hemisphere winter will be critical for the already tight global LNG market. High prices and widespread political pressure mean many LNG production facilities are likely to try to raise output, even above nameplate capacity levels. But in the Asia-Pacific region—which includes both the world’s top three LNG importers and major producer nations—there might be little or no room for increasing output, and there is even the risk domestic needs might eat into export volumes. Australia’s nameplate liquefaction capacity totals 88.6mn t/yr, and output in the 12 months ending 30 June this year reached 82.6mn t, giving it a utilisation rate of 93pc, data from Australian consultancy