Qatar, US Pitch Different Models in LNG Contest

Qatar and the US are both trying to leverage Europe’s need for additional LNG to expand their gas industries, but they offer very different business propositions for potential buyers. Each country controls around 20% of the global market, and both are poised for further gains. However, the US and Qatar represent the new and old LNG pricing paradigms, respectively, and will appeal to different types of buyers, depending on business models and appetite for different types of risk. The US sent almost 70% of its exports to Europe last year, and project developers have signed more than 70 million tons per year in long-term contracts that are nudging new projects closer to final investment decision. Cheniere has started permitting for a 20 million ton/yr expansion, Sabine Pass Stage 5, that would boost its own capacity to 90 million tons/yr by 2030. QatarEnergy recently announced that it would take over LNG marketing from sister company QatarGas, consolidating marketing of all Qatari LNG volumes, which will reach 126 million tons/yr by 2028. Meantime, rival supplier Russia grapples with a lack of access to Western technologies, while Australia is focused on low-volume brownfield expansions, debottleneckings and backfill of existing plants.