BusinessWeek: LNG Shippers Bet on Rising European Demand on Ukraine Crisis

Liquefied natural gas suppliers are readying for increased demand from European countries seeking to diversify access to the fuel amid concern over Russian shipments after its military intervention in Ukraine.

Hoegh LNG Holdings Ltd. and Golar LNG Ltd. this week predicted gains from the dispute in Ukraine, the transit country for more than 15 percent of Europe’s gas use. Demand may boost the need for floating LNG import terminals such as the one Hoegh will deliver to Lithuania this year, Chief Executive Officer Sveinung Stoehle said.

“It will create an extra push in demand,” he said in an interview in Oslo yesterday. “It will put even more focus on energy independence, especially on gas. The only way you can be independent on gas is to import LNG.”  MORE