Shifting Markets of Liquid Gas: Emerging Producers and Alternative Geo-Strategies

When asked about the future of oil, Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, the former Saudi ArabianMinister of Oil, said, “the Stone Age did not end for lack of stone, and the Oil Age will endlong before the world runs out of oil.” (1) Whilst the world still has a dependency on oil, themoral behind Yamani’s decades-old remark reminds us that change has an inevitability inthe energy sector. Back in 2011, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted the ‘GoldenAge of Gas’ was before us. (2) The assertion was that natural gas was poised to be anirresistible fuel source, which came with fewer environmental pains than using oil. Addingto this, given the post-Fukushima concerns over nuclear energy, gas-fired power stationswere destined to be more attractive as they could be fueled by liquid natural gas (LNG) as aglobally traded commodity.