U.S., Europe LNG demand to surpass Asia by 2015-Exxon

By Fayen Wong

PERTH, April 8 (Reuters) - Demand for liquefied natural gas in America and Europe will surpass Asian consumption by as early as 2015, while global LNG demand is set to triple between now and 2030, U.S. oil major ExxonMobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday.

Exxon said overall energy demand was expected to grow at 1.3 percent per year and gas consumption was expected to account for about a quarter of global energy consumption by 2030, up from about 20 percent now.

"From our projections, no fossil fuel will grow faster than natural gas," Alan Hirshberg, Vice President of Established Areas Project at ExxonMobil, said at an oil and gas conference in Perth.

"By 2030, overall LNG demand will more than triple from where it is today and the regional distribution will significantly change."

The global LNG business has so far been driven by Asia, underpinned by consumption in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Asian demand currently accounts for about two-thirds of global LNG consumption.

But growing dependence on gas imports in the United States and Europe will result in Western demand surpassing Asian consumption by as early as 2015, changing demand patterns for the first time in 30 years, Hirshberg said.

A long list of countries now plan LNG import terminals to diversify their supplies and reduce reliance on pipeline gas, while new techniques are allowing more producers to export gas as LNG and more countries to import it.

Changing patterns in global LNG demand will have an impact on LNG supply flows, which have so far been largely regional.