U.S. Faces Ship Shortage for Gas Exports

by Joachim Dagenborg, (Reuters)The anticipated growth in liquefied pure gasoline exports from the United States dangers being hampered by an absence of vessels to deal with the commerce, the pinnacle of the U.S. Coast Guard advised delivery trade executives on Tuesday.

The LNG tanker market, at present affected by oversupply on account of weak demand for pure gasoline, might thus in a couple of years face a scarcity of capability, Paul Zukunft advised the Nor-Shipping convention.

Several giant tasks are below development on the U.S. Gulf coast, together with Cheniere Energy‘s Sabine Pass, due to come on stream later this year, and Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG, set for completion in 2018.

“Right now we have one of the largest LNG facilities in the world being built in Louisiana,” Zukunft stated, referring to the Cameron plant. “In the next 3-4 years there are not enough gas ships in the world that can accommodate that growth.”

Cameron LNG acquired approval from the U.S. Energy Department in January for exports of as much as 12 million tonnes of LNG per yr.

“We sit on 20 percent of the world’s LNG, so the question is how do we get this commodity into the market place and how do we leverage it for our shipping industry,” Zukunft stated, including that the enlargement of the Panama Canal, set to complete in 2016, will assist.

(Reporting by Joachim Dagenborg, modifying by Terje Solsvik and William Hardy)
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