History of LNG

The first tanker shipment of LNG took place in 1958 from Lake Charles, US to Canvey Island in the UK aboard the Methane Pioneer. Then, in 1964, the first commercial LNG trade was from the CAMEL project in Algeria for delivery in the UK and France. Following this, there were additional deliveries from Algeria to France, Libya to Italy and Spain, and Alaska to Japan.

In 1978, larger deliveries began to the US terminals. First deliveries were to Cove Point and Elba Island and then Lake Charles in 1982. In this start up period, the North American trade nearly collapsed due to two oil price shocks and restructuring of the North American gas industry. With this slowdown in the Atlantic Basin, interest in LNG shifted to the Pacific as South Korea and Taiwan became importers along with Japan. The main suppliers to Asian markets were Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and Brunei.

The first LNG project in the Middle East (excluding Algeria and Libya) started in Abu Dhabi in 1977, followed by significant projects from Qatar and Oman in the late 1990s. Then in 1999, Atlantic supply increased with new liquefaction plants in Trinidad and Nigeria. In 2000, annual LNG trade reached 100 million tonnes and this increased to 173 million tonnes in 2008.

Interest in LNG continued to be driven by a number of factors including:
 * high efficiency of the Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) for power generation
 * cost reduction in LNG facilities due to technological advancements
 * environmental concerns
 * 'stranded gas' phenomenon
 * energy supply security

The Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan (the world's single largest market) in 2011 caused a significant increase in LNG demand as nuclear plants were shut down and replaced by gas-fired power generation. It is estimated that Japan's LNG imports grew by 24% from 2010-2012.

Global LNG trade is gradually increasing with the average from 2011-2014 being 240 million tonnes.

=References=