The Asia Pacific natural gas market: Large enough for all?

Among natural gas producing nations, there has been some concern about how the Asia Pacific will meet future demand for energy. We argue that natural gas, both regional and global, will play a vital role. Estimates of potential gas consumption in the region are analyzed and used to develop consensus projections to 2030. These consumption profiles are compared with gas supply estimates including indigenous, pipeline and LNG for the Asia Pacific market. From this analytical framework, we find that demand will be sufficiently large to accommodate supplies from diverse sources including North America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Russia, and the Asia Pacific itself. An important policy implication is that gas producing and consuming nations should benefit from promoting gas trade and not be concerned about a situation of potential lack of demand coupled with oversupply. •Estimates of gas consumption in the Asia Pacific (AP) in 2030 are presented.•Compared with supply estimates for AP including indigenous, pipeline, and LNG.•Find that demand in AP large enough to accommodate supply from all regions.•Nations should promote gas trade policy and not be overly concerned about oversupply.