Outlook Strong for Asia Following World LNG Series: Asia Pacific Summit 2011

Asia Pacific Summit was held this week from 19‐21 September at the Shangri La Hotel in Singapore, hosted by organiser The CWC Group.
The Summit is known in the industry as the most important international meeting for LNG buyers and sellers and this year The CWC Group welcomed over 270 delegates from over 50 countries, with 70{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10} of delegates coming from outside of Singapore. Delegates attended from all areas of the value chain to gain the latest updates from industry leaders, exchange information and meet key contacts through the many networking opportunities.
The event ran for three days, with 25 presentations, two panel sessions, a workshop, a ‘buyers and sellers meet’ roundtable and hours of networking, commencing with a Pre‐Summit ‘Contracting and Shipping’ workshop hosted by Baker Botts on 19 September. Through the workshop, delegates were able to learn from Partners Kevin Keenan and David Renton, and the session held by their Special Counsel Y.W Chung.
BG Group hosted the official opening reception and registration evening on 19 September at the Garden Terrace of the Shangri La Hotel; General Manager Anthony Barker welcomed delegates and special guests.
The Summit was officially opened on 20 September by Teo Eng Cheong, Chief Executive Officer, International Enterprise Singapore, who were also key supporters of the event. Teo Eng Cheong gave a positive overview of the global gas and Asian markets, commenting “the outlook for gas is a good one”. Cheong went onto say that 80{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10} of growth has been in the emerging markets, and ten LNG terminals will be coming online in the Asia region over the coming years, with Singapore transforming into the main LNG hub.
Teo was joined by Jose Layug Jr, Undersecretary of Department of Energy, Philippines, who outlined the country’s master plan for natural gas which includes using LNG for power and road transportation “trying to reduce reliance on conventional products” and expecting to have 1,000 CNG operated buses in use by 2013.
Other distinguished speakers included senior representation from Gazprom Marketing and Trading Singapore, Malaysian Gas Association, Yemen LNG, Petronet, Chevron Global Gas, GAIL (India) Ltd, China Power Petrochemical International Corporation, Braemar Seascope, The World Bank, Qatargas, Jordan Cove and more.
Official Chair Pat Roberts concluded the Summit by saying “there are lots of reasons for the industry to be upbeat” and summarised the key take aways from the presentations made. Roberts concluded there are good prospects for growth in the industry helped by the relatively strong Asian economy, with clear changes afoot in the emerging markets particularly. As a word of caution, Roberts commented on the complicated nature of the Asian market, “you can buy LNG security and flexibility for a price but if you have a maximum price you will be at the mercy of suppliers”, advising “relationships, responsiveness and flexibility are key” and for companies to stay close to market fundamentals.