US needs major LNG import capacity boost to access gas

US needs major LNG import capacity boost to access gas: Greenspan

New York (Platts)--27Apr2004


The US natural gas market requires a "major" expansion of LNG import capacity
in order to access world gas supplies and mirror the supply flexibility found
in oil markets, US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Tuesday.
Greenspan, in a speech to the Center for Strategic & International Studies in
Washington, noted existing proposals for LNG terminals in the US "bode well"
for long-term gas supplies. "These movements bode well for widespread natural
gas availability in North America in the next decade and beyond," he said,
according to a transcript. "The near term, however, is apt to continue to be
challenging." That challenge is ensuring the North American gas market works
in a similar fashion to oil markets insofar as tapping foreign supplies when
domestic output does not meet demand. "Markets need to be able to adjust
effectively to unexpected shortfalls in domestic supply in the same way that
they do in oil," he said. "Without the flexibility (LNG) facilities impart,
imbalances in supply and demand must inevitably engender price volatility."

This story was first published in Platts real-time news and market reporting
service Platts Natural Gas Alert (http://naturalgasalert.platts.com ).