Gas markets excite Shell

Shell Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser told a conference on the Asia-Pacific region that the company expects to seize the opportunity for natural gas. "Strong growth in gas markets, especially integrated gas, is a major opportunity for Shell and our shareholders," Voser said at an investment conference. Voser said Shell expects global energy demand to double during the first half of the century. For reserves like liquefied natural gas, he said, demand had doubled to around 200 million tons per day in the first decade of the century and may double again by 2020. In October, the company announced it started cutting steel for the production of a floating liquefied natural gas facility for use in Australian waters that would be the largest in the world when eventually deployed. As of 2010, Australia was the fourth-largest exporter of LNG in the world. Some of those reserves are designated for Asian economies. "We are aiming to develop profitable new gas supplies to meet the market's growing demand for clean and affordable low carbon energy," said Voser. "This plays to Shell's technology and financial strength."