International gas forum receives final checkup

Paul Sullivan, co-chairman of Gastech, speaks during a conference held at the Conrad Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Korea Gas Corp.

By Choi Kyong-ae

Energy experts said on Thursday that the world is in a period of transition leading towards a “golden age of gas” that will end the world’s reliance on petroleum.

“Pushing up demand for gas is a combination of an increased supply of shale gas as the U.S. government shifts focus to natural gas from traditional energy sources following the nuclear reactor incident in Japan and a soaring demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in China and other emerging economies,” said Choi Yang-mi, an official from Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) while addressing government officials and energy executives at a luncheon meeting.

Her remarks came at a preliminary gathering among energy experts ahead of Gastech, the world’s largest and most important LNG event, which will take place at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, on March 24-27.

Stabilizing gas prices will further stimulate the use of alternative energy sources this year, she said.

Among gas sources, the demand for LNG is rapidly growing because LNG-related businesses have been thriving in recent years, said KOGAS Chief Executive Jang Seok-hyo at the event held two months ahead of a major energy conference in Korea.

Helped by its bigger growth potential in the LNG business, Korea has become the first country in Northeast Asia to host the 27th Gastech conference in Seoul in March, Paul Sullivan, director of Global LNG & FLNG at WorleyParsons, told The Korea Times on the sidelines of the event.

He also serves as co-chairman of Gastech which came into existence in 1972 in Britain, one of the world’s three biggest energy forums. Two others are the World Gas Conference that began in 1931 in Britain and the LNG Conference that started in 1968 in the U.S.

The gas conference is expected to attract 15,000 visitors from over 50 countries. It is designed to provide a key global platform for the gas industry to do business and keep up to date on the latest technologies and opportunities, KOGAS said.

Korea is the world’s second-biggest LNG importer after Japan and the import volume is increasing. The country currently accounts for 70 percent of the high-end LNG carrier market, Jang said.

“The reason why Korea is the first in Northeast Asia to host (the Gastech) is because of the fact that Korea with the assistance of KOGAS is a catalyst and central technology center for the LNG industry in Korea,” Sullivan said.

He also noted that Korean companies jumped into LNG-related businesses when they saw the opportunity and they managed to move up the value chain in the past decades, particularly in the LNG processing and the LNG-carrying or LNG-fueled shipbuilding industry.

“So the value chain meant that companies started by having an excellent reputation in LNG shipping and LNG ships and are better positioned to compete with their rivals in global markets,” the LNG expert said.

Korea has the world’s top three shipbuilders by order value ― Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

Japan has less growth potential than Korea and China is 10 years behind Korea in the LNG business. So Korea was selected to hold the major energy event in Korea, he said.

Natural gas is expected to grow at an average of 2.0 percent each year through 2020 and to grow 1.8 percent on average through 2035, according the World Energy Outlook unveiled in 2012.