Liquefied Natural Gas Industry Research Articles

Sustainability and environmental impact in the LNG value chain: Current trends and future opportunities

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry plays a crucial role in the global energy landscape, offering a cleaner alternative to traditional fossil fuels. However, the LNG value chain presents environmental challenges that must be addressed to ensure long-term sustainability. This paper examines current trends and future opportunities for enhancing sustainability and reducing environmental impact across the LNG value chain. The LNG value chain comprises several stages, including natural gas extraction, liquefaction, transportation, regasification, and distribution. Each stage presents unique sustainability challenges, such as methane emissions during extraction and transportation, energy-intensive liquefaction processes, and the carbon footprint of regasification and distribution. Current trends in the LNG industry focus on mitigating these challenges through various strategies. These include the adoption of advanced technologies for methane detection and reduction, the use of renewable energy sources for liquefaction, and the implementation of efficient regasification and distribution practices. Additionally, there is a growing emphasis on stakeholder engagement, transparency, and reporting to enhance sustainability performance across the value chain. Future opportunities for improving sustainability in the LNG value chain lie in the continued development and deployment of innovative technologies. These include carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to reduce emissions, the use of renewable natural gas (RNG) as a feedstock, and the integration of LNG with renewable energy sources to create hybrid energy systems. Addressing sustainability and environmental impact in the LNG value chain requires collaboration among industry stakeholders, governments, and regulatory bodies. By implementing best practices, embracing innovation, and prioritizing sustainability, the LNG industry can continue to play a vital role in the transition to a cleaner and more sustainable energy future.

A comprehensive review of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market dynamics: Analyzing the current trends, challenges, and opportunities in the global LNG market

This scholarly paper comprehensively analyses the global Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market, delving into its multifaceted dynamics and future prospects. The study's background establishes the increasing global importance of LNG, driven by its role in the contemporary energy mix and the evolving landscape of energy production and consumption. The paper aims to dissect current trends, challenges, and opportunities in the LNG market, focusing on its historical evolution, technological advancements, environmental sustainability, economic factors, and geopolitical influences. The paper synthesizes peer-reviewed literature through a meticulous methodology to ensure a broad and in-depth coverage of the subject. The scope encompasses a detailed exploration of the historical milestones of the LNG industry, its role in the energy mix, the impact of technological innovations, and the interplay of environmental, economic, and regulatory factors. The study also scrutinizes the influence of geopolitical dynamics on the global LNG trade. The main findings reveal that technological advancements have significantly reshaped LNG production and distribution, enhancing efficiency and sustainability. Environmental considerations emerge as pivotal in the industry's evolution, with a clear need to balance economic growth with ecological preservation. The economic analysis underscores market volatility influenced by global trade dynamics and geopolitical shifts, highlighting the sector's sensitivity to international events. The paper recommends a strategic focus on innovation, sustainability, and geopolitical engagement to foster the LNG industry's growth. It emphasizes the necessity for adaptive regulatory frameworks and investment in renewable energy infrastructure to support LNG's expanding role in the global energy landscape.

Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) practices in the LNG industry: A review

This study thoroughly examines Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) practices in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry, a sector pivotal to the global energy landscape. The paper delves into the complexities and evolving nature of HSE practices, underscoring the industry's critical role in energy transition and its impact on environmental sustainability. The aim is to synthesize current challenges, assess risk management strategies, evaluate regulatory compliance and explore the influence of technological advancements and human factors on HSE practices. Through a systematic review and meta-analysis approach, the study meticulously analyzes peer-reviewed literature, focusing on the LNG industry's HSE practices since the year 2000. This comprehensive methodological framework ensures an unbiased synthesis of existing research, providing insights into trends, gaps and future research directions. Key findings reveal significant HSE challenges, including operational risks, environmental impacts and safety concerns. The study highlights the efficacy of current risk management strategies, emphasizing the need for comprehensive methodological approaches. It also sheds light on the multifaceted nature of regulatory compliance within the industry, stressing the importance of a compliance-oriented organizational culture and technological adaptation. The study concludes with recommendations for continuous improvement in HSE practices, leveraging technological innovations, fostering a compliance-oriented culture and adopting a multifaceted approach to manage complex HSE challenges. It advocates for balancing economic growth with environmental responsibility and safety, ensuring the LNG industry's sustainable development. This paper contributes significantly to the body of knowledge on HSE practices in the LNG industry and serves as a foundation for future research and policy development in this critical energy sector.

To tax or to spend? Modelling tax policy responses to oil price shocks

Global crude oil prices surged in 2022 due to geopolitical conflicts, raising living costs worldwide. In response, policy measures such as fuel excise cuts and energy profits levies have been adopted by policymakers worldwide. We assess the efficacy of these two fiscal policy responses to temporary supply-side oil price shocks, using a dynamic general equilibrium model with rich fiscal and industry detail. Our focus is Australia, a distinctive country that functions both as an oil importer, and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter. This dual role amplifies the inflationary pressure for Australian households and industries caused by an oil price rise, because the domestic LNG industry is largely foreign-owned and capital intensive. Inflated profits therefore flow offshore, and little of the terms of trade gain stemming from the oil-indexed LNG export price accrues to domestic economic agents. We find a temporary fuel excise cut can limit GDP and employment losses, but its effectiveness in relieving household cost-of-living pressure comes at the cost of increased net foreign debt. Higher oil prices also weaken the case for this policy from an allocative efficiency perspective. In contrast, an energy profits levy can stimulate national income without compromising the budget.

Fragile Equilibrium: Balancing LNG Trade and Market Risks

_ Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been in global energy supply discussions for decades. Geopolitical tensions, however, recently elevated it from a bullet point to the entire conversation. Rarely does a day pass without mention of signed long-term LNG purchase agreements or LNG terminal construction projects advancing, one day making it possible to transport the curiously cold molecules across oceans to eventually power industries or heat homes. So strong are the fundamentals of the LNG industry, for example, that they were cited as a primary driver in the conversion of one of the largest pure-play US-listed shipping companies—Capital Product Partners led by Greek shipowner Evangelos Marinakis—to a pure-play LNG shipping company. In addition to changing its name to Capital New Energy Carriers, the partnership is selling off its modern fleet of 15 Neo-Panamax and Panamax container vessels. It will spend $3.13 billion to purchase 11 newbuild LNG carriers (LNGC). According to an announcement on 13 November, the first of the new vessels arrived in October 2023. The company already had seven LNG carriers in its fleet, with the remaining 10 newbuild vessels scheduled for delivery through March 2027. Jerry Kalogiratos, chief executive of Capital Product Partners, said the acquisition was transformative, noting that the partnership “expects our contracted revenues to increase by 87% percent to $3.1 billion, our revenue weighted charter duration to 7.2 years as of the closing date, and the average age of our LNG fleet to decrease to 3.2 years by the time all LNGCs have been delivered in 2027.” LNG Market Overview Events like the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the sudden loss of Russian pipeline gas supplies upended global energy markets. European buyers turned to LNG imports to meet demand. According to Wood Mackenzie, the current conflict in Israel/Gaza, possible pipeline sabotage in the Baltics, and the threat of fresh strike action at Australian LNG facilities all pushed spot prices up 35% through October. In a November blog post, Wood Mackenzie noted that a record 200 mtpa of new supply is under construction as “players bet big on Asia’s push to reduce its dependence on coal and Europe’s need to replace Russian gas.” While the proliferation of LNG projects is prompting concerns that there may be too much LNG on the market once these projects are completed, this is not the case, according to Wood Mackenzie. “Increased supply availability will bring prices down and boost demand growth,” said Gavin Thompson, vice chair of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and Massimo Di Odoardo, vice president, gas and LNG research for Wood Mackenzie, noting that the market will need another 60 mtpa of new LNG by 2033. “Much will hinge on sustained economic growth, driving increased demand across emerging markets in Asia. China’s LNG demand will increase by 12% in 2023, and with 50 mtpa of LNG contracted over the past 2 years, imports will double by 2030. LNG demand in South and Southeast Asia will also grow twofold by this time,” they said.

Conceptual design of floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for Eastern Part Indonesia

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) can be used as an alternative fuel with environmentally friendly solutions. In general, the domestic distribution of natural gas in LNG is more cost-effective than transporting gas through underwater pipelines considering Indonesia as archipelagic country. According to Indonesia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation Number 13 of 2020, the government supports converting 52 power plants to LNG. However, the current challenge in the LNG industry is the lack of supporting facilities. Storage and regasification facilities are among the infrastructure that requires optimization. Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) are viable options for energy distribution that offer opportunities and competitiveness compared to onshore terminals. Small and medium-scale FSRU can serve as an alternative solution due to their relatively fast, flexible, and affordable development process. Therefore, this research will develop a small-medium FSRU design with a capacity of 60 MW − 70 MW in Eastern Indonesia. FSRU design should consist of four segments including location considerations and environmental conditions, powerplants gas requirements, LNG storage tank sizing and LNG regasification process. Calculations for various supporting FSRU components, seakeeping analysis, loading-offloading processes, 3D modelling and the integration of solar panels were discussed. The results obtained include the principal dimension, technical aspects of FSRU design, and the technology for LNG regasification processes used.

Onshore hydrogen production from boil-off gas (BOG) via natural gas steam reforming process: Process simulation and techno-economic analysis

Growing demand for cleaner energy resources has led to the increased global production of liquefied natural gas (LNG). At the same time, there are some economic and environmental impacts from LNG evaporation forming the boil-off gas (BOG) during production, storage, loading, transportation, and unloading. This study presents the technical and economic aspects of BOG utilization to a value-added hydrogen product (H2) at LNG exporting terminals using a steam reforming production process. The steady-state process simulation using Aspen HYSYS software achieves an overall C1+ process conversion of 100% with an H2 gas product purity of 99.99%. Heat integration between the recycle stream and the final purification section presents 12% energy savings. Additionally, the process revealed production costs as low as $0.23/kg of H2 produced, which is competitive with production from resources such as coal and natural gas. The low cost enabled the investigation of three monetization pathways: direct H2 sales to domestic markets, liquefied H2 sales to international markets, and ammonia sales to international markets. The production profitability of H2 sales as the liquefied H2 product shows the highest NPV of $66.2 billion for a project with a lifetime of 25 years and an interest rate of 10%. These approaches empower decision-makers to diversify selling portfolios in the LNG industry and support the transition to H2 using existing infrastructure.

Reviewing the impact of LNG technology advancements on global energy markets

Rapid technological advancements in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) have catalyzed a transformative shift in global energy markets. This review delves into the profound impact of LNG technology advancements, exploring their multifaceted consequences on the dynamics of the energy landscape. The evolution of LNG technologies, spanning liquefaction, transportation, and regasification processes, has ushered in a new era of energy accessibility, sustainability, and market competitiveness. The burgeoning role of LNG as a cleaner and more versatile fuel source is examined against the backdrop of global efforts to address climate change. Environmental considerations, carbon reduction goals, and the burgeoning demand for cleaner energy sources are driving the increasing adoption of LNG in the global energy transition. Government initiatives supporting LNG adoption and renewable energy policies influencing its utilization are dissected to comprehend the intricate policy factors shaping global LNG consumption. Economic drivers, including cost competitiveness and market dynamics, play a pivotal role in shaping the global LNG landscape. The review assesses the economic growth and industrial demand for LNG, providing insights into the intricate relationship between economic factors and the surge in LNG consumption. Additionally, the expansion of global LNG production capacity, exploration of unconventional gas resources, and geopolitical influences on LNG supply patterns are thoroughly scrutinized to provide a comprehensive understanding of the forces steering LNG trade dynamics. The regional dynamics in LNG trade are elucidated with a focus on major economies such as Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. The rising demand from these regions, coupled with infrastructure developments and regulatory frameworks, underscores the intricate interplay of factors shaping LNG trade dynamics on a regional scale. Furthermore, the review delves into the geopolitical implications of recent events on LNG markets, scrutinizing trade agreements and geopolitical risks to provide a holistic view of the broader geopolitical landscape impacting LNG stakeholders. In summation, this review provides a comprehensive analysis of LNG technology advancements and their far-reaching impact on global energy markets. As technological innovations continue to reshape the LNG landscape, this review serves as a roadmap for understanding the intricate interplay of environmental, economic, regional, and geopolitical factors that collectively define the contemporary dynamics of the LNG industry.

Enhanced megaproject management systems in the LNG industry: A case study from Qatar

Despite the development of several industrial Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) megaprojects worldwide, minimal literature on LNG megaprojects is available in the non-proprietary public domain and academia, with the consequent lack of availability of practical tools, guidelines, and benchmarks for the use of professionals engaged in developing and managing LNG megaprojects. Cognizant of this fact, the authors have attempted a study of standard project management systems to explore practical ways to meet the unique needs of LNG megaprojects management and systematically assimilate lessons learned to replicate successes and avoid failures. Considering the complexity of the LNG value chain, a management system approach has been adopted. Combining academic and industrial knowledge, this study identifies nine significant areas that, when improved, should enhance the management of LNG megaprojects throughout their lifecycle — from initiation to handover for operation. With hundreds of billions of dollars invested in current LNG projects, even minor improvements can be worth billions. This study also addresses the challenges of megaprojects development, gaps that need to be overcome, and the importance of quality and lessons learned. Finally, although the focus of this study is the management of LNG megaprojects, it is expected that many improvements identified here would find relevance in managing large and complex projects, even in other industrial sectors.

Design and optimisation of novel cascade mixed refrigerant cycles for LNG production – Part II: Novel cascade configurations

Large scale production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) typically employs energy-intensive cascade refrigeration cycles. Three well-established cascade cycles in the LNG industry are the Propane Pre-cooled Mixed Refrigerant (C3MR), Dual Mixed Refrigerant (DMR) and Phillips Cascade cycles. Previous work has focused on improving the energy efficiency of these cascade cycles with various methods (e.g. exergy analysis), as this can bring significant economic benefits. However, potential benefits associated with changes in the configuration of a cascade cycle are usually neglected. This work develops three cascade cycle options, based on structural modifications, to be competitive with the commercial processes. The novel configurations are the CryoMan Cascade cycle, the Bypass Cascade cycle and the Double CryoMan Cascade cycle. The performance of these novel cascade cycles is evaluated with a case study previously used to assess the commercial processes. The optimisation strategy consists of a genetic algorithm with regeneration of the population followed by a nonlinear optimisation. The results obtained demonstrate that the structural changes enable the novel cascade cycles to achieve energy savings of up to 15.6% compared to the C3MR cycle, and up to 5.9% compared to the DMR cycle. Moreover, these energy savings come at the expense of only minor added process complexity, as the number of compression stages and multi-stream heat exchangers are kept the same as in the commercial processes.

Contract Types, Institutional Distance and Operational Performance: Evidence from Global Trade Flows in the LNG Industry

AbstractIn this study, we examine the relationship between contract types, institutional distance and operational performance in the context of cross‐border trade in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. Drawing on the buyer–supplier long‐term relationships literature, we argue for a negative link between short‐term contractual agreements and operational performance. Further, drawing insights from institutional theory, we contend that a high level of formal and informal institutional distance between the origin (i.e. supplier) and destination (i.e. buyer) countries reduces operational performance. We also argue that formal and informal institutional distance mitigates the negative effect of short‐term contracts on operational performance. Finally, we draw on the role of ‘asymmetry in distance’ by examining the direct and moderating effect of both the relevance and direction of formal institutional distance. We test our assumptions using LNG global trade flows from 39 source countries to 44 destination countries over the 2008–2017 period (a total of 17,447 shipments). Our study extends our knowledge on the operational performance implications of buyer–supplier relationships and stresses the important role formal and informal institutional distance plays as a direct and moderating effect on this relationship.

Green sustainability balanced scorecard—Evidence from the Taiwan liquefied natural gas industry

Currently, companies work to improve their performance at the economic, environmental and social levels, make large contributions to sustainable development, and use strategic assessment tools to evaluate their sustainability performance. In addition, the Taiwan government has gradually paid attention to the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG), but the sustainable development of the LNG industry is in its early stage, and the associated companies lack the relevant knowledge and skills to manage and measure their performance in achieving these sustainability goals. Therefore, this study intends to propose an assessment framework, the green sustainability balanced scorecard (GSBSC), for the LNG industry as a reference for creating sustainable strategies and adds a green operational object to extend the SBSC for theory development. Through the fuzzy Delphi questionnaire of experts, this study found the following. 1. Green operational and environmental objects are relatively important constructs of the GSBSC in the LNG industry. 2. ‘Operating risk and cost management’, ‘customer satisfaction’, ‘product management and recycling mechanism’ and ‘greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions’ are relatively important indicators in their associated objects. This research preliminarily aims to provide relevant and refined advice for the Taiwanese LNG industry and extend the SBSC to the GSBSC. • Develop the green sustainability balanced scorecard (GSBSC) for evaluation. • Green operational and environmental objects are more significant of the GSBSC. • Apply fuzzy Delphi technique to identify the important indicators of the GSBSC. • Define strategy map of implementing GSBSC. • Examine Taiwan LNG industry based on developed GSBSC.

Concurrent 2. Presentation for: Zero emissions LNG – a credible opportunity for the industry

Presented on Tuesday 17 May: Session 2 Australia is vying with Qatar to be the top global liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, with the Australian LNG industry earning around A$17 billion annually and employing over 50 000 people. But where is the LNG industry headed as we move towards a zero emissions global energy economy? This paper presents a credible road map for the industry to transition to a zero emissions industry across the whole value chain. It addresses the steps being taken to reduce fugitive emissions, beneficially use the CO2 extracted from natural gas streams, electrify the operation of liquefaction facilities, use zero emissions fuels for LNG shipping whilst recovering boil-off gas, capture and beneficially use solid inert carbon from the methane at the LNG destination country then distribute, and burn hydrogen making the whole process zero emissions. One of the main benefits of this pathway is that most of the infrastructure required already exists reducing the capital investment required, hence improving the economics. This paper examines the viability and technical maturity of each stage of this road map against other potential zero emissions technologies. Japan is one of Australia’s largest LNG customers and has committed to building a local hydrogen economy so has been used as the basis for the economic comparisons studied. To access the presentation click the link on the right. To read the full paper click here

Visualization experimental and numerical study on multiphase flow characteristics of main cryogenic heat exchanger in offshore liquefied natural gas industry chain

The deep-sea natural gas resources are safely and efficiently sent to the energy market through the offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry chain, which provides a feasible idea for the utilization, development, storage and transportation of deep-sea natural gas fields. The offshore LNG industry chain includes production equipment (LNG-FPSO, LNG Floating Production Storage and Offloading Unit, also known as FLNG) and receiving equipment (LNG-FSRU, LNG Floating Storage and Regasification Unit). Due to the influence of sea conditions, the key cryogenic heat exchangers in LNG-FPSO and LNG-FSRU have the problem of insufficient heat transfer caused by uneven distribution of multiphase flow, which affects the performance index of liquefaction and gasification process. In this work, the visualization experimental device and numerical simulation model of falling film flow in LNG-FPSO and multiphase flow of intermediate medium in LNG-FSRU have been established, based on the sloshing platform system, camera and processing system, VOF two-phase flow model and dynamic grid technology. The measures are put forward to improve the offshore adaptability of multiphase flow in offshore LNG industry chain. When the anti-sloshing angle of the cover plate is 15°, the liquid fluctuation index (FI) is small and the anti-sloshing resistance is good. The optimal number of transverse anti-sloshing separators is 3, and the anti-sloshing partition number required for unit axial length is 7.5.

Zero emissions LNG – a credible opportunity for the industry

Australia is vying with Qatar to be the top global liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, with the Australian LNG industry earning around A$17 billion annually and employing over 50 000 people. But where is the LNG industry headed as we move towards a zero emissions global energy economy? This paper presents a credible road map for the industry to transition to a zero emissions industry across the whole value chain. It addresses the steps being taken to reduce fugitive emissions, beneficially use the CO2 extracted from natural gas streams, electrify the operation of liquefaction facilities, use zero emissions fuels for LNG shipping whilst recovering boil-off gas, capture and beneficially use solid inert carbon from the methane at the LNG destination country then distribute, and burn hydrogen making the whole process zero emissions. One of the main benefits of this pathway is that most of the infrastructure required already exists reducing the capital investment required, hence improving the economics. This paper examines the viability and technical maturity of each stage of this road map against other potential zero emissions technologies. Japan is one of Australia’s largest LNG customers and has committed to building a local hydrogen economy so has been used as the basis for the economic comparisons studied.

Advanced natural gas liquefaction process on LNG supply chain with liquid air: From design to thermodynamic and techno-economic analyses

This study proposes an advanced natural gas liquefaction process by applying liquid air to the propane pre-cooled mixed refrigerant (C3MR) process. Being the most efficient process, the C3MR process has the largest market share in the natural gas liquefaction industry. The proposed concept involves recovering cold energy released by liquefied natural gas (LNG) by introducing liquid air as the recovery medium, in which the natural gas liquefaction and LNG regasification stages are integrated. The proposed C3MR-liquid air (C3MR-LA) process was optimized using a genetic algorithm for four different process configurations. The best design produced 737.41 kJ/kg-LNG for natural gas liquefaction, which is 26.4% less than in the optimized commercial C3MR process. In addition, a techno-economic analysis is conducted, and the results show that 25.1% of expenses could be saved through energy recovery by applying liquid air. By including liquid air in the LNG supply chain, the developed process achieves superior performance from both the energy and economic perspectives. A thermodynamic analysis shows that the newly proposed process can reduce exergy waste by 21.0% over the entire LNG supply chain compared to existing technology. Overall, this study proposes an attractive process model for natural gas liquefaction through cold energy recovery, which is expected to contribute to increasing the sustainability of the LNG industry.

Liquid Hydrogen Spills on Water—Risk and Consequences of Rapid Phase Transition

Liquid hydrogen (LH2) spills share many of the characteristics of liquefied natural gas (LNG) spills. LNG spills on water sometimes result in localized vapor explosions known as rapid phase transitions (RPTs), and are a concern in the LNG industry. LH2 RPT is not well understood, and its relevance to hydrogen safety is to be determined. Based on established theory from LNG research, we present a theoretical assessment of an accidental spill of a cryogen on water, including models for pool spreading, RPT triggering, and consequence quantification. The triggering model is built upon film-boiling theory, and predicts that the mechanism for RPT is a collapse of the gas film separating the two liquids (cryogen and water). The consequence model is based on thermodynamical analysis of the physical processes following a film-boiling collapse, and is able to predict peak pressure and energy yield. The models are applied both to LNG and LH2, and the results reveal that (i) an LNG pool will be larger than an LH2 pool given similar sized constant rate spills, (ii) triggering of an LH2 RPT event as a consequence of a spill on water is very unlikely or even impossible, and (iii) the consequences of a hypothetical LH2 RPT are small compared to LNG RPT. Hence, we conclude that LH2 RPT seems to be an issue of only minor concern.

Multi-objective optimization assessment of a new integrated scheme for co-production of natural gas liquids and liquefied natural gas

The most of introduced schemes for the co-production of natural gas liquids (NGL) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) are designed as integrated configurations from the base. Furthermore, due to the high complexity of these structures single-objective optimizations are usually applied in this field. The present paper proposes a new NGL/LNG configuration with appropriate specifications based on an already built industrial NGL unit. The optimization approach in thisstudy has the potential to advance current knowledge about multi-objective optimization assessment of integrated schemes. In this regard, the accurate surrogate models that describe the plant performance towards the annualized profit, specific power consumption, and exergy efficiency are determined by the response surface methodology. A genetic algorithm is utilized for the single-objective optimizations of these models, while their dual and triple-objective optimizations are performed with a controlled NSGA-II. To gain a robust decision, the best point from Pareto solutions in each of the multi-objective optimizations are selected by two well-known types of decision-making methods, where the criteria importance through the inter-criteria correlation (CRITIC) is applied for weighting the objectives. According to the results, the proposed scheme has higher economic, thermodynamic, and exergetic efficiencies among similar integrated configurations. The economic analysis reveals that the profit is increased by 669.99 $ min−1 with converting the existing NGL plant to the proposed integrated scheme. Meanwhile, the specific power consumption is set to its minimum value of 0.3473 kWh kg−1 LNG and exergy efficiency is reached to its maximum value of 55.12%. Moreover, the compressors located in the mixed refrigerant (MR) cycle have the largest share of the costs increasing. The highest power consumption and exergy destruction rates also belong to these equipments. The findings of this paper help for better understanding of the roles of annualized profit, specific power consumption, and exergy efficiency when they are simultaneously considered in the final optimal design of NGL/LNG co-production scheme. Furthermore, the purpose of this study will become even more apparent when there is no choice but to reduce the production costs for the survival of the LNG industry.

Backtracking and prospect on LNG supply chain safety

The safety issues of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in production, storage, loading/unloading, transportation/shipping, and re-gasification have became a major concern, since an accident in the LNG industry would be very costly. Understanding the threat of LNG not only contributes to the process safety and reliability in the research and development (R&D) system, but improves the efficiency of loss prevention, fire protection and emergency responses. As of April 2019, in order to obtain the present status and trend of LNG safety research, basing 1122 documents of the Web of Science database about safety research of LNG as a data source, CiteSpace and VOS viewer were used for network knowledge map analysis. A comprehensive knowledge map of LNG safety field was obtained from several research aspects including scientific research power, research hot spots and trends, research knowledge base and frontier. According to the study results, the development of LNG safety research was divided into four stages from 1970s to 2019, China and South Korea made a lot of contributions, and the United States is the most influential. Among them, the research from 2005 to 2019 was the most representative. Current research results indicate that a combination of Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) methodology and Dynamic Procedure for Atypical Scenarios Identification (DyPASI) will fully identify risks; The PHAST and TerEx programs quickly define safety zones. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software package can provide accurate quantitative data for the study of LNG safety. Research on quantitative risk assessment (QRA) and LNG evaporated gas (BOG) has been a hot topic and trend in this field. The application of expansion foam in LNG accident mitigation covers most of the research content in this field, and the optimization of LNG liquefaction process has a great influence on this industry. As the international demand for LNG energy output increases, floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) will have considerable development, and increasingly researchers attach vital importance to the safety of LNG offshore production integrated unit.

Evaluating British Columbia's economic policies for liquefied natural gas development

Interest in developing liquefied natural gas (LNG) has recently increased with global demand rising at a higher rate than any other fossil fuel in the last ten years. While the increase in demand for LNG has created an opportunity for countries with natural gas stocks, there is a significant amount of competition among these producing countries. As a result, jurisdictions have been implementing policies and subsidies to enhance their competitiveness in the global LNG market. We investigate the impact of this phenomenon in one gas-rich region, British Columbia, Canada, where the provincial government has promoted the development of a large-scale LNG industry. Drawing from staple theory, we explore how government policy has been shaped by the needs of the resource sector to provide incentives for expansion without undertaking comprehensive evaluation of the costs and benefits. As a result, the benefits of the expansion are overestimated, while the costs are underestimated. Our analysis shows that a more comprehensive and transparent evaluation of resource development policies is necessary to avoid suboptimal policies and ensure that development is in the public interest. • This study's financial analysis estimates government revenue using BCA methodology. • Results show previous revenue forecasts overestimated and costs underestimated. • BC will likely generate more revenue by not developing LNG due to subsidies. • Analysis shows a more comprehensive evaluation of LNG policies is necessary. • The findings of this study support many of the precepts of staple theory.