Liquefied natural gas

Abstract

For many years, natural gas was regarded as useless by-product of crude oil production and flared or vented in vast quantities. Gradually, however, it began to replace town gas, manufactured mainly from coal, as its superior qualities as a clean burning, efficient fuel were realized. Following the growth of the gas industry in North America, natural gas found increasing use in Europe after the discovery of substantial non-associated gas fields close to potential markets. Many of world’s gas fields are, nevertheless, remote from the main consuming markets. Moreover, gas is bulky and relatively costly to transport. Once liquefied, it is much more compact and can be shipped long distances by specialized tankers, This articles will discuss why market chooses LNG and describes briefly the liquefaction process, LNG business development, the future of LNG and the Malaysian LNG Project.