IEA fires Southeast Asia warning to LNG markets

Fatih Birol of the IEA said LNG markets would face strong competition from coal as demand increases

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) chief economist warned that coal, not expanding North American shale production, poses the greatest challenge to Southeast Asia’s emerging liquefied natural gas (LNG) markets. Fatih Birol told the Singapore International Energy Week 2013 (SIEW) that regional LNG markets face very strong competition from coal as Southeast Asia’s energy demand surges. Despite the environmental benefits of gas – it is half as polluting than coal when burnt – LNG prices are twice the price, meaning that without government intervention more coal-fired power plants will be built, he said. In the IEA’s latest Southeast Asian energy outlook, coal is emerging as the fuel of cho