U.K., Belgium LNG Imports Soar to Record, PanEurasian Says

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Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Liquefied natural gas imports into the Western European market by the U.K. and Belgium probably reached a record this year as new plants in Qatar boosted supplies, a consultant said.

The U.K.’s purchases in October probably reached an all- time high of about 870,000 metric tons, or equivalent to about 40 billion cubic feet of gas sent into the grid, PanEurasian Enterprises said in an e-mail yesterday. Belgium’s terminal at Zeebrugge may send out as much gas in October as a record set earlier this year, according to the report.

“The opening of the South Hook LNG terminal in Milford Haven, plus the Dragon terminal nearby, has changed the landscape of U.K. LNG imports,” according to the report. “This will most likely be a record year for operation of the Zeebrugge terminal.”

New projects in Qatar, Yemen, Peru and Indonesia, which together may add about 30 percent to current output, may start producing at full capacity next year. Proposed LNG capacity of about 130 million tons a year exceeds uncontracted demand of 80 million tons in the Pacific rim over the next decade, Sanford C. Bernstein said last month.

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