SHANGHAI'S NATURAL GAS MARKET AND THE ROLE OF LNGi STATUS AND PROSPECTS

摘要

Since the introduction of LNG into Shanghai's energy mix in 2009,LNG imports started to make an important contribution to the volume and diversity of city's gas supplies.Its market share reached 50% of the total consumption in 2013.LNG is thus considered as an increasingly important part of the city's supply and deliverability network.However,Shanghai's gas market underwent significant structural changes in recent years.Industrial gas consumption has stagnated,while gas use in residential and commercial and power generation has started to take larger shares in the consumption mix.These trends have significant implications for LNG as it can bring better flexibility into the system.As a result,LNG has been increasingly used for peak shaving.After reviewing the factors affecting gas demand in Shanghai and supply options,this paper suggests that the potential for gas demand growth will be in the residential and commercial and power sectors.Therefore,the future role for LNG is to continue to constitute an important contribution to gas supply and remain necessary to provide much needed flexibility to meet peak demand.