Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) planned across the oil and gas value chain in 2020 are set to focus on natural gas developments, according to GlobalData, a data and analytics company.
According to the report, the upstream and midstream project sanctioning in 2020 will be heavily weighted towards gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
This includes projects in the leading LNG exporters of Australia and Qatar, as well as in the key growth regions of North America and Africa, GlobalData said.
Will Scargill, Managing Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, comments: "The world is increasingly looking to natural gas as a transition fuel and the rise of LNG is facilitating this shift, particularly for major Asian economies. However, the high level of competition for market share in the mid-2020s combined with high Capex requirements may mean that not all projects make the cut."
In the downstream sector, the development of new projects is expected to be focused in the petrochemicals segment over refineries. The demand growth centers of India and China contribute the most projects, but a number of new developments are also targeting FID in the US and Russia.
Scargill said: “Plans for new petrochemical capacity in the US are more evidence of natural gas shaping the industry. The shale gas boom has provided cheap ethane feedstock driving rapid growth after years of stagnation.”