The Potential of Compressed Natural Gas Transport in Asia

Natural gas use is expected to increase dramatically in the world over the next two decades, especially in the two fastest<br>growing countries in Asia: China and India. Japan is already greatly dependent on natural gas. In connecting sources with<br>markets, natural gas is transported with two well-established technologies: 70 percent by pipeline and 30 percent by liquefied<br>natural gas (LNG). Pipelines traversing land masses, when feasible, are the obvious option. However, offshore pipelines have<br>a distance limit and a terrain restriction. LNG facilities (both the liquefaction process at the source and the re-gasification<br>process at the receiving end) are expensive to construct and the entire process is complicated, costly, and energy wasteful. It<br>is applicable for long haul sea distances and large volumes of gas.