Malaysia plans first LNG imports in 2013
Malaysia, the No.2 liquefied natural gas exporter, expects its first LNG imports in 2013, Reuters reports citing a senior Malaysia Govt official.
That shift in LNG trading means Malaysia will likely ship less to top buyers in Asia, leading to less export revenues for the trade-reliant Southeast Asian country and forcing its customers to look elsewhere.
The presentation by government minister Idris Jala at an industry conference on Monday gave no further details on its future LNG import needs in the next few years.
Malaysia last month raised natural gas prices to cope with higher demand and a ballooning subsidy bill.
As its domestic gas needs grow, Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas will likely begin to depend more heavily on a global portfolio of gas supplies to meet its existing contracts with major buyers like Japan and Korea.
Malaysia is the top supplier of LNG to Japan, the world's number one importer of the supercooled fuel. South Korea also depends heavily on Malaysia, its third largest supplier after Qatar and Oman, for its LNG supply.
Petronas will likely draw on supplies from its Gladstone LNG project in Australia and their newly acquired stake in Energy Resources Corp 's Canadian shale gas assets to fill both domestic and export needs, Brookman said.
That shift in LNG trading means Malaysia will likely ship less to top buyers in Asia, leading to less export revenues for the trade-reliant Southeast Asian country and forcing its customers to look elsewhere.
The presentation by government minister Idris Jala at an industry conference on Monday gave no further details on its future LNG import needs in the next few years.
Malaysia last month raised natural gas prices to cope with higher demand and a ballooning subsidy bill.
As its domestic gas needs grow, Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas will likely begin to depend more heavily on a global portfolio of gas supplies to meet its existing contracts with major buyers like Japan and Korea.
Malaysia is the top supplier of LNG to Japan, the world's number one importer of the supercooled fuel. South Korea also depends heavily on Malaysia, its third largest supplier after Qatar and Oman, for its LNG supply.
Petronas will likely draw on supplies from its Gladstone LNG project in Australia and their newly acquired stake in Energy Resources Corp 's Canadian shale gas assets to fill both domestic and export needs, Brookman said.