Gulf projects feature in Shell’s LNG capacity plans

• Projects in Qatar and UAE
• 12m extra tonnes of LNG by 2030
• Most demand in Asia

European energy major Shell, the world’s largest trader of liquefied natural gas (LNG), will add millions of tonnes of additional capacity by 2030 from projects under construction, a top executive has said.

There is “up to 12 million tonnes of additional capacity that we’re adding between now and the end of the decade,” Cederic Cremers, Shell’s president of integrated gas, said at Wood Mackenzie’s Gas, LNG and the Future of Energy Conference in London.

“That is not an ambition. Those are all projects that are currently in construction,” he said.

The projects include two in Qatar, one in Canada and others in Nigeria and the UAE.

Analysts estimate Shell is a current buyer of around 70 million metric tonnes per annum of contractual LNG. Last year Shell LNG Marketing and Trading delivered nearly 65 million tonnes of LNG to more than 30 countries across the globe, according to the company’s website.

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Cremers said Shell was building up its capacity to supply customers through acquisitions such as the Pavilion Energy deal in Singapore, which it completed by the end of the first quarter, and via contracts with third-party suppliers.

He added that by 2030, 60 percent of the new supply will come from Qatar and the US, with demand stemming mainly from Asia and from sectors that are hard to electrify.

Earlier this year Shell said global LNG demand is estimated to rise by around 60 percent by 2040, driven largely by economic growth in Asia, the impact of artificial intelligence and efforts to cut emissions in heavy industries and transportation.