LONDON, February 28. /TASS/. LNG demand in China and Europe will rise in 2024, which will push prices for liquefied natural gas up on the global market, Reuters reported citing representatives of companies speaking at an industry conference in Kuala Lumpur.

"LNG has continued to grow, with China being back in the market but not yet at the level of 2021. With Europe <…> it's a new and big market, this demand will still continue to grow. At the same time, new capabilities will not be on stream in this very short term, so will continue to put bit of pressure on prices and volatility," the agency quoted Senior Vice President Asia Pacific Exploration & Production at the French energy corporation TotalEnergies SE Thomas Maurisse as saying.

The fall in Asia spot LNG prices to their lowest levels in nearly three years last week incentivized Chinese and Indian LNG importers to increase purchases, Reuters said. "It has already started in China. But (market is) still tight. If anything happens to production, you will see a (price) spike," Vice President, LNG Marketing and Trading at the Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas Shamsairi Ibrahim was quoted as saying.

On February 14, British oil major Shell published in its annual report on the LNG market prediction of growth of LNG demand by more than 50% by 2040. According to the Russian Energy Agency, gas exports from Russia may rise to 313.9 bln cubic meters per year by 2050. In 2023, exports of Russian gas via pipelines totaled 99.6 bln cubic meters, while LNG exports amounted to 45.4 bln cubic meters, with total supplies having reached 145 bln cubic meters.

Last year the US was the world’s biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas with 86 mln tons, according to Shell’s report. Australia was the second-biggest exporting country with more than 81 mln tons, followed by Qatar (80 mln tons), Russia (around 33 mln tons), and Malaysia.