Swamped with gas

Both demand and prices will need to pick up to ease the oversupply

The global glut of liquefied natural gas shows no signs of dissipating as over 70m tonnes more exports are expected to reach markets over the next two years. Global supply of LNG will reach 319.4m tonnes in 2018, according to Energy Aspects, up from 249.2m tonnes this year and 234.1m tonnes in 2015. Most of the new gas arriving by end-2018 will be from projects in Australasia and the US, which together will account for 53.5m tonnes a year of capacity additions-around 76% of the total. Next year alone global LNG capacity will rise by 51m t/y, up from the 39m t/y added this year. The consultancy says that the "relentless" growth means that around 58m t/y of capacity will be seeking a home. Mos