Introduction

By the end of 1979 approximately 72 LNG peakshaving facilities will have been constructed. Of these, 59 will be located in the United States and Canada and 13 in Europe.1 These facilities will be used to liquefy and store natural gas during periods of low demand and then to vaporize that liquid for use to supplement the normal supply of pipeline gas during periods of extremely high demand. These facilities will incorporate a total storage capacity of approximately 22.9 million bbls*(3.6 X 10⁶ m³ lip) of LNG and a combined liquefaction capacity of about 434.4 MMCFD (12.30 X 10⁶ m³ gas/d). Also at that time there will be approximately 9 base load export LNG facilities in operation in 6 countries capable of supporting an international trade in natural gas of approximately 5,150 MMCFD (145.83 X 10⁶ m³ gas/d). Six countries will be importing LNG at 14 receiving terminals as part of their base load gas supply. Transportation of the LNG from the exporting to the importing countries will require approximately 42 marine tankers with a total LNG cargo capacity of 4 X 10⁶ m³ liq. Additional peakshaving facilities and international projects are in various stages of planning and implementation which will lead to the continuing growth of the LNG industry.