In the east Mediterranean, where Israel and Cyprus have discovered large offshore gas fields, Australia's Woodside Petroleum
Woodside is a specialist LNG developer and was targeting sales in Asia with its involvement in Israel.
"After many months of negotiations it is time to acknowledge we will not get there under the current proposal," Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said at the time.
In Central Asia, France's Total
Norway's Statoil
In North America, several LNG export terminals are also beginning to have trouble attracting buyers.
In East Africa, where impoverished Mozambique and Tanzania hope recent offshore gas discoveries can bring future wealth, analysts have said developers will struggle to find necessary financing and that costly production delays are likely.
"I believe the speed with which the East African projects have been promised is somewhat ambitious since all infrastructure there has to be built from scratch," Shell's
Mozambique and Tanzania hope to export their first cargoes around the turn of the decade.
In Asia, uncertainty over future pricing of LNG has led consumers to hold off signing 20-year deals amid expectations that prices will soon enter a period of decline.
As a result, final investment decisions on new projects have come to a virtual standstill, while cost blowouts in Australia are further deterring investors from signing up.
LONG-TERM GROWTH
Despite the troubled perspective for many gas projects, Bichsel said the outlook for the sector was positive.
"We're quite excited about gas, there is a lot it can be used for, for instance gas to liquids, gas for transport or gas to chemicals, and there's also a lot of work being done to bring down the production costs of LNG," he said.
"In oil, it's more maintaining production but in the long term, we're talking decades ahead, we see a decrease in oil demand and gas will take a more prominent role, including from shale gas. But it'll take time."
