East Asia to receive its first supply of US shale gas

East Asia imports more liquefied natural gas (LNG) than any other region in the world. It is now set to receive its first supplies of shale from the US.

A Maran Gas Maritime Inc. tanker loaded with LNG at Cheniere Energy Inc.’s export terminal in Louisiana is bound for the Far East. The company that chartered the vessel, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, has yet to say exactly which country and buyer will receive the cargo, an official from Maran Gas Maritime said.

Most of the cargoes that have left Cheniere’s LNG terminal since exports began in February have landed in closer-by Latin America. An expansion of the Panama Canal stands to change that, with more than half of US LNG export capacity slated to be online by 2020 contracted to Asian buyers, based on a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analysis.

According to shipping data compiled by Bloomberg, the Asia-bound tanker, Maran Gas Apollonia, was in the Pacific Ocean on July 27 after becoming the first LNG carrier to pass through the newly expanded Panama Canal locks.

Demand in Asia may have as many as 550 LNG tankers a year passing through the Panama Canal from the US Gulf Coast by 2021 as the recent expansion cuts shipping times and costs, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Of the tankers that have left Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal, more than half have gone to South America, including Brazil, Argentina and Chile. The only cargo to have landed in Asia went to India. Dubai, Kuwait and Spain have also received shipments.

Cheniere’s marketing unit has contracts to supply gas from the company’s first liquefaction plant to Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Co. and Chubu Electric Power Co., according to Poten& Partners.