Poll: Infrastructure at major ports and attractive price most critical in driving LNG demand

Delegates at IBIA’s Annual Convention in Singapore in November put supply infrastructure at major ports and attractive pricing at the top of a list of factors that will drive demand for LNG as a marine fuel.

The question was put to by Goh Tiak Boon,  Head LNG New Business, Pavilion Gas, during his presentation on the drivers and challenges of LNG.

He put the question and multiple response options to the audience, with results as follows:

Which of the following factors will be most critical in driving the use of LNG as a marine fuel?
Green advocacy for cleaner marine fuels – 13%
Clear emission regulations and enforcement regimes – 11%
Ready and abundant supply of LNG – 5.5%
Attractive LNG pricing vs alternatives – 29.5%
Infrastructure readiness at major ports – 41%

Outlining the current market, Boon noted that LNG supply infrastructure is concentrated in North West Europe, and so far almost entirely dominated by truck to ship supply.

Price-wise, he claimed that the price of LNG versus marine gas oil when supplied ship-to-ship (STS), even taking delivery cost into account, makes LNG a viable alternative.

We also heard from Alan Lim, Deputy Director (Port Services) at Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, about how Singapore is part of a global network LNG bunker-ready ports across East-West and Transpacific trade. Several ports in Asia and North West Europe are already part of this network, along with two ports in North America. He said Singapore intends to have STS LNG bunkering capacity in place as early as 2020.

It seems, then, that two of the most important factors for driving the use of LNG as a marine fuel could be in place by 2020.

Report by Unni Einemo
unni@ibia.net