Floating a New LNG Export Idea

By Tyler Crowe – Aug 1, 2013 at 3:18PM

NYSE: RDS.A

Royal Dutch Shell plc

Why put all that land-based infrastructure in place if someone will ship nat-gas to you?

Getting natural gas exports to market is difficult, especially for places where energy infrastructure is almost nonexistent. For emerging natural gas plays, such as the one off the coast of Mozambique, it could cost up to $40 billion to get the infrastructure in place to export the commodity. Thanks to some developments by Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), that number may go way down.

Shell has been developing a floating LNG terminal that would work with offshore gas exploration, and its first facility is expected to come on line in Australia toward the end of 2016. If this technology were to be used in a place like Mozambique, it could reduce the infrastructure bill by as much as $30 billion. If successful, this could be a big win for both Shell and other natural gas plays around the world. Tune into the video below where Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe takes a look at what this LNG development could mean for the market and for Shell itself.

Fool contributor Tyler Crowe has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow him at Fool.com under the handle TMFDirtyBird, on Google +, or on Twitter, @TylerCroweFool.

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