LNG Traders Look to Increase Exports to Malaysia, Indonesia

(Bloomberg) -- Liquefied natural gas traders are looking to sell more of the fuel to traditional exporters in Southeast Asia that are being forced to turn to imports to meet surging energy needs. 

Countries including Malaysia and Indonesia have plans to increase LNG import capacity, which could “create changes in market dynamics,” Takuya Tanabe, head of Asian LNG origination at JERA Global Markets, said at a Bloomberg power and gas seminar on Thursday.

Traders are looking to capitalize on the strong domestic growth in the two emerging nations, where dwindling domestic gas reserves have forced governments to rethink export strategies. Malaysia, the fifth-biggest exporter last year, has said it may need more terminals and facilities for imports, while no. 6 shipper Indonesia had earlier asked overseas buyers to accept delays to meet domestic demand.

The exporters also face a geographic mismatch between supply and demand, according to Fauziah Marzuki, BloombergNEF’s global head of gas research and analysis. 

“You can’t fix the fact that East Malaysia is exporting LNG but West Malaysia needs actually more gas,” she said at the summit. 

The majority of global LNG demand growth is expected to come from Asia, with China and India leading that expansion, JERAGM’s Tanabe said.

(Updates with comments from JERAGM official in the last paragraph.)

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