World FLNG Market Report 2009-2015

The Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) business is now rapidly developing into a sector of major significance and will be worth $8.5b by 2015, according to a new study published by energy business analysts Douglas-Westwood.

The World FLNG Market Report 2009-2015 considers the market for both floating liquefaction and regasification and identifies the desire to monetize stranded gas deposits. Escalating construction costs and high local opposition to onshore LNG facilities coupled with geopolitical issues are the key drivers of the sector at present.

Announcing the new study at the recent Global Floating Production Systems Conference, Steve Robertson, Head of Oil & Gas at Douglas-Westwood stated that, “For us this is a major area of interest, an emerging sector that is growing rapidly from a small base. The floating liquefaction business has taken some time to develop, with larger operators initially focused on very large applications. These failed to progress due to their size, inherent complexity and cost. However, technology concepts targeting smaller applications have found favor thanks to the reduced risk profile, availability of proven (and in some instances, modular) technology and lower capital cost.”

Lead author, Lucy Miller, commented, “We have developed a market model built on a project-by-project review of development prospects, with the timing of expenditure phased to reflect likely project structure. This model has been developed in consultation with industry experts and also sense-checked to account for external factors such as supply chain constraints. We have prepared forecasts segmented by services such as technology licensing, front end engineering & design, project management & detailed design engineering, construction engineering (field engineering), construction and installation (hook-up and commissioning).

“On a regional basis, our view is that Asia will account for the largest proportion of the $27b global Capex forecast with a 32% share. Africa is the next most significant region with $5.3b, or 20%, of our global total. North America, despite having the greatest number of FLNG projects – which are all import terminals – still only accounts for $3.3b, or 12%, of global Capex.

“In terms of the split by import/export terminals, import terminals account for 27% of the expenditure between 2009 and 2015, albeit this proportion changes significantly over the period. Key service items include construction at nearly $19b and detailed design engineering & project management at over $3b over the period to 2015.”

The World FLNG Market Report 2009-2015 forms part of a series of reports that are used by companies in nearly 50 countries globally. It includes a series of charts and tables showing the market expenditures in US dollar values over the period 2004-2015, segmented by component, facility type, region and project phase. The report will be available from Douglas-Westwood Limited from Dec 22, 2008.

(www. douglas-westwood.com)