SAKHALIN II: FACING THE CHALLENGE OF MEETING CUSTOMER NEEDS IN A CHANGING LNG MARKET

摘要

This paper analyses changing LNG market trends, including economic downturn in the Asia Pacific market in late nineties, pressure for de-regulation creating uncertainty for customers used to long-term supply deals, a demand for more flexibility to cater for seasonality and shorter term contracts etc. In addition, the development of tenders and short term trading has added a new dimension to the LNG business creating a more commodity-style market. New markets are emerging on the US West Coast and Mexico with very different structure and characteristics to the Asia Pacific market. rnThe size of the Sakhalin II development as a greenfield project has meant that no-one customer can provide the total volumes required to fill the two trains. Sakhalin Energy has met the challenges by developing a portfolio of customers with LNG supplies tailored to meet individual customers with diverse requirements. In order to deliver these requirements, Sakhalin Energy has developed models to test the deliverability of the portfolio and the operational and commercial implications.