What is the future potential for FSRU development?

Ms Turner provided a high-level overview of the LNG market, and drew a sharp contrast between the current market and 2022 when Europe was scrambling to fill its LNG ’bucket’ at elevated prices. She noted despite rising newbuilding prices, orders for LNG carriers remain steady, pushing the global orderbook to historic levels, while keeping shipyard capacity tight.

In pivoting from Russian supplies following the outbreak of the Ukrainian war, and quickly building LNG import infrastructure, Europe’s current LNG storage capacity stands at 99% but global demand for LNG remains buoyant as economies recover from Covid and energy demand increases.

Speaking at the conference, she told delegates Russia is still producing LNG and countries are taking Russian natural gas, particularly India and China, where stringent sanctions do not exist.

Shipping rates are at half the levels they were last year, and prices for LNG have changed considerably since the elevated rates of 2022 as Europe pushed to raise its storage levels and compete for cargoes.

The focus of this video was to answer the question of the potential for more FSRUs in Europe and elsewhere, to which Ms Turner replied is about finding the ‘right place for the right project’.

Another issue is that each FSRU is custom-built for the initial project and infrastructure and while there are many projects in play, only a few reach the fruition stage.