An international accounting firm says LNG exports would be difficult to finance if oil remains below $60 per barrel and may not be possible at all if prices stay below $50.
Svetlana Valonis of PricewaterhouseCoopers says low oil prices make crude more attractive to international markets and trim the profitability of LNG.
Larry Persily, who recently joined Borough Mayor Mike Navarre’s office, said the AK LNG Project likely won’t be significantly affected by the low prices…
Persily: “In Asia, which is where the prime market for Alaska LNG will be, LNG is priced on an energy equivalency basis with oil because obviously you are going to run your generators with oil or you are going to run them with gas. Obviously gas prices are really low now, anyone following the news knows that, but that’s not fatal to this project because this project will be selling LNG in 2024, 2025 and for 30 or 40 years beyond that, today’s prices really are not an indication of what contracts are going to be 10 years from now.”
Oil prices are widely expected to rebound by 2017/18, but the long-term forecast is still uncertain.