Global Markets and Technologies for Natural Gas Storage
Report Highlights
The global natural gas storage volume reached 643 million cubic feet in 2011 and 657 million cubic feet in 2012. The natural gas volume is expected to reach 720 million cubic feet in 2017 for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.9%.
Report Includes
- An assessment and quantification of the current global natural gas and LNG storage market and demand
- Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2011 and 2012, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2017
- Evaluation of the future global use of storage as a means of primary energy production
- Discussion of important current and potential environmental regulations that may affect the growth of this market
- Examination of pricing trends for key North American and European wholesale gas markets
- Assessment of the impacts of new and proposed infrastructure on LNG and underground gas storage projects
- A detailed patent analysis
- Comprehensive company profiles of the top players in the market.
Report Scope
The focus of this report is presumably the storage of natural gas, and this theme will be returned to repeatedly in the course of this project. It is virtually impossible to adhere solely to the original title concerning gas storage. So long as there is a demand for storage, it must be viewed in the context of the entire natural gas industry and in some respects the entire energy industry. In some cases it is possible to be drawn far a-field. For example both natural gas and nuclear energy are used to generate electric power. If the power plant in question uses gas, the fuel must be stored on site to assure a continuous supply. A comparison of these problems is far outside the scope of this report.
The real focus of the project looks at two closely related questions: the increase in the use of gas as a replacement for other energy sources and the increased requirements for the infrastructure required to handle the increasing demand for natural gas. It must be understood that the demand for and expansion of infrastructure and for storage facilities is a derived demand. It cannot be discussed in a vacuum, but as a result of a basic movement in the world energy market from one set of sources to another. Coal consumption for example will probably not increase significantly in the future and will probably decline. Total energy demand worldwide will almost certainly increase and the proportion of this increase that will be filled by gas is almost certain to increase. That in turn implies the almost certain expansion of the requirements for gas storage. This project will attempt to quantify this increase over the five-year period beginning in 2012 and through 2017/18. It is virtually certain that the demand for gas and its storage will increase in this period in spite of the questions concerning global economic growth rates. It seems almost certain that “global GNP” will increase in this period, but exactly where the growth will occur and what the growth rates will be by area is less than clear.
Analyst Credentials
Stephanie Denarie earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Brown University and has completed coursework in Corporate Finance from the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco State University.
Ms. Denarie has intensive experience in energy transmission modeling and financial management, and has consulted for groups as diverse as Optimum Energy, LLC, the states of Utah and California, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Black & Veatch Corporation.
Stephanie has developed several economic models and software tools to forecast price and economic competitiveness for energy projects, most especially for local renewable energy resources in different renewable energy markets.
Report Highlights
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Global LNG and natural gas storage infrastructure spending was approximately $22.9 billion in 2005. By 2010, this market will reach nearly $31 billion, an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 6.2%
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Merchant LNG storages will continue to spearhead growth over the forecast period. These small regasification storage plants are often called "peakshaving plants." Alternatively, the LNG may be transported in special tanker trucks to small facilities where it is stored and regasified as needed. Such facilities are called "satellite plants." The United States, for example, has about 100 LNG satellite and peakshaving plants throughout the country. There is also a growing support for natural gas vehicles (NGV), with their global usage being seen as one of the major pathways to the "hydrogen economy". Worldwide there are now over 3.8 million NGVs on the road
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The deregulation of underground storage has combined with other factors such as the growth in the number of gas-fired electricity generating plants to place a premium on high-deliverability storage facilities. This will maintain a healthy growth in working gas storage investments globally at an AAGR corresponding to 5.4% over the forecast period to 2010.