Energy for the 21st Century


Book Description

ÔProfessor SakmarÕs book is a must-read for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the most dynamic segment of the global energy industry.Õ Ð Jay Copan, Executive Director, LNG 17 ÔProfessor SakmarÕs book provides a well-rounded overview of the global role that natural gas is expected to play in the future and the important role of LNG as a means of transporting gas to where it is needed. Readers will find the book to be a very convenient compendium of relevant global information and an important educational, informational resource.Õ Ð Ronald D. Ripple, Director, Centre for Research in Energy and Minerals Economics, Curtin University, Australia ÔUnderstanding global energy markets Ð what forces shape them and what trends define them Ð is critical for any professional trying to evaluate new energy developments and technological directions. Susan SakmarÕs impressive ability to provide this context in terms of LNG markets makes her book valuable.Õ Ð Warren R. True, Sr., Chief Technology Editor, Oil & Gas Journal ÔWith clear and direct text, supplemented with key maps, charts and graphics from government, industry and other sources, the book moves the reader smoothly through the early history of LNG up to current developments, including shale gas and North American LNG exports. The book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding global gas markets and the energy policy challenges facing us in the 21st century.Õ Ð Jacqueline L. Weaver, A.A. White Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center, US Countries around the world are increasingly looking to liquefied natural gas (LNG) Ð natural gas that has been cooled until it forms a transportable liquid Ð to meet growing energy demand. Energy for the 21st Century provides critical insights into the opportunities and challenges LNG faces, including its potential role in a carbon-constrained world. This comprehensive study covers topics such as the LNG value chain, the historical background and evolution of global LNG markets, trading and contracts, and an analysis of the various legal, policy, safety and environmental issues pertaining to this important fuel. Additionally, the author discusses emerging issues and technologies that may impact global LNG markets, such as the development of shale gas, the prospects of North American LNG exports, the potential role of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum and floating LNG. The author contextualizes the discussion about the importance of LNG with an analysis of why the 21st century will be the Ôgolden ageÕ of natural gas. Accessible and non-technical in nature, this timely book will serve as an essential reference for practitioners, scholars and anyone else interested in 21st century energy solutions.




Monetizing Natural Gas in the New “New Deal” Economy


Book Description

Natural gas markets have undergone momentous changes, worldwide. This book updates and expands on the dynamics, performance and forward path of expanding natural gas use in the US and worldwide, including international trade. It brings together major research themes and findings with recent updates and analysis of new trends and developments. It also explores many considerations for natural gas market development, such as the importance of infrastructure, transparent pricing, and institutional capacity. This book is unique in providing background on the full natural gas value chain as well as information and analysis that can foster scenario-building and decision-making. Of particular value are the lessons learned and demonstrated for those countries that aspire to build effective natural gas markets and to expand natural gas development and use.




Global Gas Markets


Book Description

As the world enters the second decade of the 21st century, policy makers around the globe continue to grapple with issues related to energy security, energy affordability, and an expected increase in demand for all energy sources. At the same time, concerns about global climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions remain in focus as the world struggles to define the path to a sustainable energy future. As an abundant, affordable, and clean-burning fuel, many countries around the world are increasingly looking towards natural gas to play a key role in powering the future. The prospects for natural gas are so promising that the International Energy Agency (IEA) has suggested that the 21st century could be the “Golden Age of Gas” with demand for natural gas projected to increase by more than fifty percent from the 2010 levels and “account for over [twenty-five percent] of world energy demand in 2035.” Along with the increased demand for natural gas comes a corresponding increase in international trade in natural gas, with most of the increased trade expected to be in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG is natural gas that has been cooled to approximately -161°C, at which point it condenses to a liquid that can then be shipped via LNG tanker anywhere in the world. Since many natural gas reserves are located away from key demand markets, LNG offers an important solution for the global gas markets in terms of moving natural gas to markets where it is most needed. Through the lens of the IEA's Golden Age of Gas Report, this Article explores the growing role of LNG as the “glue” linking global gas markets and identifies a number of developments in global gas markets giving rise to new opportunities and challenges for LNG in the coming decades.




Complementarity Modeling in Energy Markets


Book Description

This addition to the ISOR series introduces complementarity models in a straightforward and approachable manner and uses them to carry out an in-depth analysis of energy markets, including formulation issues and solution techniques. In a nutshell, complementarity models generalize: a. optimization problems via their Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions b. on-cooperative games in which each player may be solving a separate but related optimization problem with potentially overall system constraints (e.g., market-clearing conditions) c. conomic and engineering problems that aren’t specifically derived from optimization problems (e.g., spatial price equilibria) d. roblems in which both primal and dual variables (prices) appear in the original formulation (e.g., The National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) or its precursor, PIES). As such, complementarity models are a very general and flexible modeling format. A natural question is why concentrate on energy markets for this complementarity approach? s it turns out, energy or other markets that have game theoretic aspects are best modeled by complementarity problems. The reason is that the traditional perfect competition approach no longer applies due to deregulation and restructuring of these markets and thus the corresponding optimization problems may no longer hold. Also, in some instances it is important in the original model formulation to involve both primal variables (e.g., production) as well as dual variables (e.g., market prices) for public and private sector energy planning. Traditional optimization problems can not directly handle this mixing of primal and dual variables but complementarity models can and this makes them all that more effective for decision-makers.




The New Geopolitics of Natural Gas


Book Description

We are in the midst of an energy revolution, led by the United States. As the world’s greatest producer of natural gas moves aggressively to expand its exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), America stands poised to become an energy superpower—an unanticipated development with far-reaching implications for the international order. Agnia Grigas drills deep into today’s gas markets to uncover the forces and trends transforming the geopolitics of gas. The boom in shale gas production in the United States, the growth of global LNG trade, and the buildup of gas transport infrastructure worldwide have so transformed the traditional markets that natural gas appears to be on the verge of becoming a true global commodity. Traditional suppliers like Russia, whose energy-poor neighbors were dependent upon its gas exports and pipelines, are feeling the foundations of the old order shifting beneath their feet. Grigas examines how this new reality is rewriting the conventional rules of intercontinental gas trade and realigning strategic relations among the United States, the European Union, Russia, China, and beyond. In the near term, Moscow’s political influence will erode as the Russian gas giant Gazprom loses share in its traditional markets while its efforts to pivot eastward to meet China’s voracious energy needs will largely depend on Beijing’s terms. In this new geopolitics of gas, the United States will enjoy opportunities but also face challenges in leveraging its newfound energy clout to reshape relations with both European states and rising Asian powers.




The Development of a Global LNG Market


Book Description

"A major aim of this study is to test the proposition that LNG markets will become increasingly 'global'. In the process, the study illuminates the very substantial changes unfolding in the Atlantic and Pacific Basin LNG markets. The evolution of short-term and spot transactions, and the development of arbitrage opportunities within the Atlantic Basin and between the Atlantic and the Pacific, have been identified as important trends, as demand for LNG increases, particularly in the United States."--BOOK JACKET.




Liquefied Natural Gas in China


Book Description

A report on key issues and options relating to the development of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in China. The objectives of the study were to examine the projected market for gas and to review the mechanisms and structures necessary to support the introduction of gas.




LNG Markets in Transition


Book Description

The present situation in the LNG market should be seen as a 'crossroads' for the industry. The LNG industry has not been static over the past 5 decades and has already experienced many changes, but still the model of long-term contracts prevails and the majority of LNG is still bought at oil-indexed gas prices. There have however been considerable changes: an increase in short-term trading of LNG, buyer contractual flexibility and FOB contracts which have lead to around a quarter of the LNG is being traded under spot and short-term contracts, with aggregators play a far more significant role. All these factors have influenced project business structures. The industry has now embarked on a period of further change, with 180 bcm of new LNG export capacity (equivalent to more than 50% of LNG trade in 2014) under construction at a time when the assumed rapid LNG demand growth in Asia appears to be slowing. The absorption of this new supply will affect, not only trade-flow patterns, but also pricing dynamics, competition with other gas supply channels and (in the power sector) potentially other fuels. Key to this change is US LNG, with buyers becoming more selective about the price and delivery terms they are ready to accept. Sellers however are facing high costs and are reluctant to abandon a business model in which they have confidence. Oil indexation is under further attack with US LNG selling at HH indexed prices (plus costs), and other sellers and buyers have been pressured to adopt different pricing policies and secure more contractual flexibility. This volume examines the development of the LNG business over the past 50 years and examines how the industry will change over the coming 15 years, faced by unprecedented challenges to its historic business model.