LNG demand worries for Australian Exporters  

The Australian reports that Australian LNG exports (particularly from coal seam gas) may be under threat as China begins exploiting shale gas - LNG demand worries.

CONCERNS that Chinese domestic shale gas production will hit demand for Australian liquefied natural gas are growing.

Deutsche Bank is the latest group to warn that the Asian giant might not need to import as much gas as previously expected.

In a global review of its LNG supply and demand outlook, Deutsche said that while it was still bullish on Chinese demand, the prospect of shale gas production from China meant not as much gas was expected to be imported.

This was expected to impact Queensland's burgeoning coal-seam gas export industry more than the conventional LNG projects planned off the nation's northwest because Japanese and Korean users favour the tried and tested offshore methods of production and will continue to need more imports.

The Deutsche report comes a week after Macquarie released a report saying lower forecast Chinese demand growth for LNG after 2020 because of shale gas and Russian pipeline imports could hit Australian projects.