Canadian LNG Poses Price Conundrum

摘要

As potential producers and buyers of LNG from Western Canada try to firm plans into actual projects, they are testing out each other on pricing, with Asian consumers seeing an opportunity to break their reliance on oil indexation, while producers seek oil pricing as a core component to support the heavy capital cost of greenfield developments in British Columbia. The consensus of industry officials and analysts at last week's Pacific Energy Summit in Vancouver was that a hybrid pricing system may result, but that oil indexation would be the primary component of Canadian sales - even if rival projects in the US offer linkages to Henry Hub gas (WGI Apr.3'13). That said, some also cautioned against the assumption that gas indexation would automatically be cheaper longer term, despite the huge differential now between North American and Asian prices.