Abstract
Innovation and corresponding patent activity in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) production field grew strongly over the period 1997–2016, reaching a peak in 2013–14. A patent landscaping analysis enabled a preliminary investigation of innovation foci, by technical subject matter, and those companies driving such innovation. Floating LNG (FLNG) innovation so far forms a small proportion of this activity, yet shipbuilding companies like Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries are relatively dominant innovators, as measured by patent intensity, likely collaborating – for FLNG projects – with operating companies like Shell and ExxonMobil which are also significant, although statistically less dominant, innovators in the LNG production field. Patent landscaping analysis also showed that key foci for innovation appear in the fields of LNG storage tanks, carbon dioxide and boil-off gas management. Further investigations would provide more specific information about innovation occurring in these fields of LNG production.
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