While there may be some great opportunities for America to take advantage of the natural gas boom and export liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to places that are deprived of the resource, there are also plenty of other countries who would like to do the same. In order for us to get a better feel for how successful America will be at exporting LNG, we need to look at who the country is up against.
With close proximity to the ever-important Asia Pacific market, LNG facilities located in Australia will have a leg up exporting to the region. The bulk of the facilities there will be coming on line between 2016 and 2017, putting them ahead of the plans of most American companies right now. The one problem for Australian companies, though, is cost. High labor costs and delays have put several projects well over budget, and companies like ConocoPhillips (COP -0.43%) have started to bow out of Australia because the economics of the projects is becoming less attractive.
Also, while Russia and the nations of the former Soviet Union might not be LNG exporting candidates, they still are able to export natural gas to China and other Pacific Rim countries. Since these countries can access the market via pipelines, they have a chance to really challenge the prospects of American LNG exports. Tune into the video below in which Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe and Fool energy analyst Joel South discuss some other regions that could be big players in the LNG market, and the chances that American companies have to profit from it.
