Asian gas

This paper reports on natural gas which now appears ready to take a leading role on the world energy stage. Demand for natural gas, and specifically LNG, will be strong throughout the world, particularly in Asia. Indonesia and Malaysia will become much more dependent on natural gas in the Asian market. In Thailand, where remarkable economic growth has been fueled by imported oil and domestically produced natural gas, LNG may soon have to be imported from neighboring countries. The author sees Thailand's imports of natural gas increasing from 1.5 to 4.5 million tons annually. Similarly, Korea's imports of LNG will rise from 2 to 8 million tons between 1987 and 2000. In Japan, energy demand is expected to increase at an even faster rate in the 1990s. Given the opposition to nuclear power generation and growing concern about the greenhouse effect, it is likely that LNG will satisfy a major portion of Japan's increasing demand for energy. Japanese gas companies are studying the possibility of establishing a national pipeline network to move gas beyond metropolitan areas