Market Trends of North America FLNG Industry
This section covers the major market trends shaping the North America FLNG Market according to our research experts:
Upcoming FLNG Projects Expected to Drive the Market
- FLNG facilities provide more flexibility and enable the monetization of assets through the liquefaction of natural gas in remote areas. They reduce development costs and time from schedules. FLNG solutions are also being considered for exporting near-shore gas reserves or gas from an on-land pipeline network by locating the LNG production facility near shore.
- There has also been a growing focus on operator-based technologies. The Shell DMR technology is expected to be used at LNG Canada (scheduled for start-up in 2025) after its application at Sakhalin 2 LNG and Prelude FLNG. Novatek's Arctic Cascade process, designed for the Arctic climate, is used for Yamal LNG T4 (0.9 MTPA).
- As per BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2022, North America LNG imports have declined significantly over the period. Total North American imports witnessed only 2.2 billion cubic meters of LNG in 2021.
- In July 2022, New Fortress Energy (NFE) signed a deal with Mexican state-owned petroleum company Pemex to develop the Lakach offshore gas field and deploy FLNG solutions jointly. The agreement involves the joint development of the Lakach deepwater natural gas field for Pemex to supply natural gas to Mexico's onshore domestic market and for NFE to produce LNG for export to global markets.
- In April 2022, New Fortress Energy Inc (NFE) announced plans to launch the US FLNG project in 2023. NFE's application offers the ownership, construction, operation, and eventual decommissioning of an offshore natural gas export deepwater port, known as New Fortress Energy Louisiana FLNG. The deepwater port would allow for the export of roughly 145 billion cubic feet of natural gas annually, equivalent to about 2.8 million tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG. The new offshore liquefaction terminal would sit in federal waters about 16 miles off the southeast coast of Grand Isle, Louisiana, in the United States Gulf of Mexico.
- In February 2022, Black & Veatch was awarded a front-end engineering and design for the proposed floating liquefied natural gas project in British Columbia. The planned floating LNG facility in Kitimat is being developed by the Haisla Nation in partnership with Pembina Pipeline Corporation (Pembina), making it the first Indigenousmajorityowned LNG export facility in Canada.
- Therefore, the upcoming FLNG projects are expected to drive the North American FLNG market during the forecast period.
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United States to Dominate the Market
- A floating liquefied natural gas facility is a floating production storage and offloading unit that conducts liquefied natural gas operations to develop offshore natural gas resources.
- As of July 2022, the United States has more LNG export capacity than any other country and has exported more LNG than any other country. United States LNG exports averaged 11.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) during the first half of 2022. The increasing demand for LNG has led to significant investments in floating liquefied natural gas technology, which offers a more environmentally-sensitive way to develop natural gas resources.
- As per International Gas Union (IGU) World LNG Report 2022, in 2021, 6.9 MTPA of liquefaction capacity came online, and no new markets started exporting. The United States accounts for 18% of LNG exports.
- Floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) technology is complementary to conventional onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) as it helps to accelerate the development of gas resources to meet the growing demand.
- FLNG produces natural gas, liquefaction, and storage possible at sea. LNG is transferred directly from the floating facility to specific carriers for convenient shipping to states. Natural gas is produced from underwater fields, then processed and chilled to -162° Celsius (-260° Fahrenheit). This shrinks its volume by 600 times to create LNG. The advanced design of an FLNG facility packs a typical land-based LNG plant into a fraction of its standard size.
- Furthermore, in July 2022, Delfin LNG filed an extension proposal with the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the US Gulf of Mexico floating LNG export project. The project is scheduled for completion by September 2023.
- Thus, the United States is expected to be the largest market during the forecast period, with the majority of the demand from exports and growing consumption.
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