North American LNG output to grow, IEA says

PARIS, June 11 (UPI) -- The United States and Canada will account for about 8 percent of the global liquefied natural gas market by 2019, the International Energy Agency said.

"While demand growth is driven by the Asia-Pacific region, and especially China, supply growth for the international gas trade is dominated by private investments in LNG in Australia and North America," IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said Tuesday.

Global demand for natural gas is expected to increase by more than 2 percent by the end of this year. By 2019, LNG, a super-cooled form of gas, will meet about 40 percent of world's demand.

Australia, van der Hoeven said, is expected to account for half of the new LNG exports expected on the international market by 2019, with the United States and Canada combining to represent 8 percent of the market.

LNG is less constricted by the geopolitical issues that may influence pipeline deliveries. Van der Hoeven sand LNG provides benefits in terms of energy security, but without investments, coal could dominate the energy mix of growing economies in Asia.

"Unless we see timely investment in new production and LNG facilities and the reversal of the recent cost inflation of LNG, only a very strong climate policy commitment could redirect Asia's coal investment wave to gas," she said.