Market factors and logistical challenges could delay East African gas schemes

In its latest annual medium-term gas market report, published in early June, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has revised downward its forecasts for global gas demand between 2014 and 2020. Planned supply, meanwhile, is abundant, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects competing not only against each other, and piped gas, but also against cheap coal and increasingly competitive renewable alternatives.Global gas demand is forecast to increase by an average 2%/yr to 2020, down from 2.3% over the past ten years, according to the IEA.