CONCEPTS FOR INCREASED NATURAL GAS SUPPLY A PIPELINE PERSPECTIVE

摘要

In today's marketplace natural gas is a commodity. As with any commodity, there are five essential major characteristics to consider; these are: Supply, Demand, Logistics, Price and Risk. Each of these characteristics influences and is in turn influenced by each of the others. For the purposes of this paper, the term Logistics encompasses functions such as marketing, transportation and distribution (the linking of supply and market). This paper presents a transmission pipeline perspective and provides insight into the current global energy and natural gas supply and demand situation as well as an outlook for the future. It discusses the requirements for future major pipeline developments in the next twenty (20) years and highlights the significant structural changes that have been and are occurring in the pipeline industry. The paper illustrates some of the opportunities, challenges, issues and factors that will be faced by pipeline developers and operators as natural gas supplies are brought to the marketplace during the 21st century. It further discusses the impact of a broad range of topics from a pipeline perspective. These include marketplace, project economics, technological trends, regulatory impacts, globalization, and the evolution of electronic commercial arrangements (e-gas). The paper provides an overview that indicates how the forecast trends and changes in the pipeline industry will positively affect the energy industry’s ability to increase natural gas and therefore energy supply.