(EnergyAsia, August 27 2014, Tuesday) — Malaysia could displace Qatar and surprise as the world’s largest supplier of “flexible” liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2020, said energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.

In addition to building capacity through ownership of plants in Sabah state, Canada and Australia, Malaysian state energy firm Petronas is adding supplies through offtake agreements with third-party producers and traders.

Wood Mackenzie estimates that Petronas’s LNG supply potential could grow by over 55% from 27 million tonnes per year (t/y) last year to 42 million t/y in 2022.
Over the same period, the UK firm expects Malaysia’s flexible LNG volume to surge by more than 10 times from 2.5 million t/y to 26 million t/y. Qatar had 20 million t/y of flexible LNG capacity last year.

“In addition to challenging Qatar, Malaysia’s growing volume of uncontracted LNG will provide strong supply competition for new LNG projects, such as from the US, Canada and East Africa,” said Wood Mackenzie’s Asia gas research analyst, Chong Zhi Xin.