Availability and affordability of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is essential to the energy systems of Asia today and those that will emerge over coming decades.

A core function of ANGEA’s advocacy activities is to ensure Asia’s long-term requirements for LNG are understood in key supply nations and supported by ongoing global production and exports.

This is why we commissioned Wood Mackenzie to undertake research into Asia’s LNG demand to 2050.

Research from S&P Global Commodity Insights has shown LNG from Australia, the US and Qatar being used in power generation in Asia has much lower carbon intensity than coal.

Why LNG is so important to Asia

With Asia being an energy importing region, LNG addresses two areas of long-term and critical importance.

Firstly, it ensures energy security in a range of nations that have been importing LNG for many decades. The world’s biggest LNG importers are Japan, South Korea and China, with Singapore and Taiwan among the other advanced Asian economies that are underpinned by imported gas.

LNG also has a growing role in allowing Asia’s emerging economies to map out lower-carbon futures. Vietnam, the Philippines, India and Indonesia seek LNG to help reduce their dependence on high-emitting coal-fired power, while the ongoing energy security of Thailand’s gas-based economy will be supported by access to LNG imports as domestic resources deplete.

LNG serves a range of functions in Asia beyond power generation, including providing feedstock for chemical and fertiliser manufacturing and industrial heat for the production of clean energy technologies. It will also be a starting point for the development of low-carbon fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia and can offer a cleaner fuel alternative for transport, including the freight industry.

Global LNG Supply Risk

Because LNG-import infrastructure and associated power generation facilities take many years to develop, certainty around supply is vital for energy planning in Asia.

Furthermore, the ability of emerging nations to use LNG is price-sensitive, meaning there must be sufficient global supply to ensure LNG is affordable for all of Asia.

Any perceived or real energy policy uncertainty in major LNG exporting nations – such as the US and Australia – provides a barrier to long-term energy planning in Asia.

The 2024 halt to export approvals in the US, the world’s biggest LNG exporter, cast doubt on future supply that customers in Asia had been relying on. While approvals have now resumed, the ‘pause’ highlighted the challenge that would be posed by any instances of restricted or reduced supply from key exporters.

Australia has been Asia’s most long-standing provider of LNG, particularly to Japan and South Korea.

The Australian Future Gas Strategy has been welcomed but there are concerns in Asia that Australia may choose to address domestic energy security issues at the expense of LNG exports.

Australia has sufficient gas resources and reserves to meet both its own needs and those of Asia, and it’s important that it acts to do so.

Asia’s growing LNG demand

The Wood Mackenzie study published in late 2024 makes it clear that Asia’s LNG Demand will be much greater than many of the projections being relied upon in gas-producing countries. The study, which was commissioned by ANGEA, forecasts that regional demand will nearly double to 510mmpta by 2050, with much of the growth coming in the 2030s and beyond from emerging nations in South and Southeast Asia.

Much more gas production will be required from major exporters to ensure LNG is affordable to these nations, as they transition away from coal and seek a reliable source of baseline power that can support increasing investments in renewable energy.

ANGEA’s advocacy and communications activities aim to develop awareness of Asia’s long-term energy and LNG requirements among key decision makers in gas-producing countries outside the region.

LNG as a driver of affordable and impactful decarbonisation

An independent 2025 study by S&P Global Commodity Insights, commissioned by ANGEA, found that LNG could play a key role in accelerating the phaseout of coal and achieving affordable, impactful decarbonisation in Asia.

The study identified that increased use of LNG could underpin practical emissions reduction pathways for Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The study found that:

  • LNG from Australia, the US and Qatar being used for power generation in the focus countries had 47% lower average lifecycle carbon intensity than coal
  • A balanced approach to decarbonisation – with increased use of LNG supporting expansion of renewables – would enable the focus countries to retire half of coal-fired power by 2035 and reduce power sector emissions by 33-38%, while investing only 8-16% more in their energy systems.
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