The East Africa and Asia Pacific/Australia regions are primed to be leaders in the exporting of liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to panelists at a Dec. 13 forum in Houston sponsored by King & Spalding.

East Africa -- particularly Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania -- is poised to become a major exporter of LNG, according to Brad Defenbaugh, manager of international gas business development for Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in The Woodlands, Texas.

“Mozambique could become one of the world’s largest LNG players,” Defenbaugh said. “As early as 2020, Mozambique is projected to become No. 3 in global liquefaction capacity behind Australia and Qatar.”

Defenbaugh traced the history of LNG in Mozambique back to the 1950s, when exploration began. A decade later, the Pande and Temane onshore gas wells were discovered. Exploration began to cool in the 1970s because of political unrest.

Four decades later, Anadarko made large gas discoveries in 2010 and 2011 in the Windjammer, Barquentine, Lagosta, Tubarao and Camarao fields, according to Defenbaugh.

The company is now planning to bring in a second rig, he said. The company will continue the appraisal of existing discoveries and explore additional prospects in what it calls Area 1, which is located near the northern border of Mozambique. Other companies are planning to drill in areas to the south.

Anadarko is calling Area 1 a world-class discovery with 15-30 trillion cubic feet of recoverable resources. Area 1 is ideally suited for LNG development, he said, citing high-quality, thick, continuous sands; low drip rates; combination traps; and structural advantages.

Looking into the future, Defenbaugh foresees Anadarko having a “two-rig, accelerated drilling program and a two-train LNG facility that is expandable to six trains.” Initial production is expected to be in 2018.

Also in the region, deepwater exploration off Kenya’s coast is creating a buzz. Deepwater leasing activity has increased, he said, and drilling is expected to commence soon.

Defenbaugh provided the following LNG information about Tanzania: More than 54 wells have been drilled since the 1950s; the industry has two producing gas fields -- Songo Songo and Mnazi Bay; two discoveries were reported in 2010 and another in April 2011; and additional exploration activity is planned in 2012.

LNG Market In Asia Pacific/Australia

Dan Rogers, a partner in King & Spalding’s global transactions practice group who works out of the firm’s Singapore office, had this to say about LNG activity in the Asia Pacific/Australia region, “The most exciting thing going on in Asia right now is the rise of unconventional gas to LNG. Most of it right now is coalbed methane, and a lot of that activity is in Australia. But to be fair to our Indonesian friends, there’s actually coalbed methane that’s being produced into LNG today. There’s a project in Bontang that’s producing very small quantities.”

He said that five to seven years ago, when looking at final investment decisions (FIDs) in Asia, no unconventional projects would have been on the list. But that has changed in a relatively short period of time.

“You’ve got three [unconventional projects] that have now taken FIDs. There’s another one that’s going to be taking its FID pretty soon. My bet is that in another five years most of this list will be of the unconventional nature rather than the conventional nature,” Rogers said.

Offshore LNG projects “really will be the next generation of LNG project facilities,” he added. “Shell’s offshore Prelude facility will be the size of three football fields. It has reached FID and is moving forward. I’m told there are hundreds of new patents involved in developing this facility.”

Another LNG trend is a new class of project sponsors. “What you saw in the past were the super vendors -- the ExxonMobils, the Chevrons, the Shells. Do you see any super majors up there?” he asked as he pointed to a Powerpoint image titled “New Class Of Asian Export Project Sponsors.” The image listed such companies as PetroChina Co. Ltd., Inpex Corp., Encana, Apache and EOG Resources.

Rogers also talked about what he said “may be a uniquely Asian phenomenon.” He was referring to the concept of intra-country export-import deals. The concept involves the “exporting” of LNG from one part of a country and “importing” it to buyers in another part of the same country.

For example, Rogers said that at least one import terminal in Indonesia is expected to be served in part by Indonesian LNG production. Meanwhile, Malaysia has announced that two to three import terminals will be served in part by Malaysian LNG production.