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) 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.

"Significant Middle East supplies will reach all the major markets. Some Asian supplies may reach the U.S. west coast and Atlantic supplies will go to both Europe and United States," Hirshberg said.

Hirshberg said Exxon, which is a partner in the Chevron-operated Gorgon LNG project off Western Australia, was "optimistic" that the massive LNG project would go ahead despite long delays and surging costs.

"Although we're still some way from a final investment decision, we remain optimistic about Gorgon's potential and our ability to manage the technical and commercial challenges," he said.

"We're also actively engaged with potential LNG buyers in the Asia-Pacific region to ensure our share of Gorgon LNG is sold prior to any final investment decision."

Gorgon partners have increased the project's capacity by 50 percent to process 15 million tonnes a year of LNG in a bid to improve project economics. (Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Michael Urquhart)