Financing of LNG projects in developing countries and the role of the World Bank

The future quantities of capital required by the LNG industry will be very large. However, the continued rapid development of the industry is justified by the economic and environmental benefits of increased natural gas use. It is likely that the World Bank will continue to play a modest absolute role in supplying capital to the industry. The Bank can, however, play a crucial role in assisting governments in formulating appropriate energy policies and project development strategies and thereby creating the right policy and financial climate. The Bank can also provide a relatively modest amount of financial backing to projects, which nonetheless can help to generate larger volumes of finance from other sources. In the long run, LNG projects which are well structured and which operate within an appropriate policy environment should succeed in attracting financing even in today's more competitive environment