Wood Mackenzie pointed out that all proposed new LNG export capacity in South America and West Africa is based on floating LNG systems.
Wood Mackenzie said FLNG fleet utilisation averaged 88 percent in 2024 and 2025, marginally higher than the onshore average, though operating costs remain structurally higher, at about 3-5 percent of total capital expenditure each year.
One distinct advantage afforded by floating systems is the ability to move an FLNG asset and redeploy it to a new project.
The ability to move a vessel can also reduce exposure to a single gas field, offering options if a resource declines more quickly than expected, Wood Mackenzie said, noting that few have taken on ownership of an FLNG asset to date.
“Of 15 operational and under-construction FLNGs, 12 are project-owned, and three are lease-and-operate, all belonging to Golar LNG, which committed to a fourth vessel on a speculative basis in 2026,” Wood Mackenzie’s analysis said.
Seven floating LNG projects sanctioned since 2023 are adding 18 million tonnes per annum of capacity, with the technology giving hard-to-reach gas resources a route to global markets.
The US and Qatar are expected to account for roughly half of global LNG production capacity by 2030, but extended disruption to Gulf LNG supplies could leave the LNG market about 70 million tonnes per annum (mta) short of pre-conflict levels through 2035.
According to analysis from Wood Mackenzie, floating LNG (FLNG) can diversify supply concentration and relieve some of the potential market shortfall by bringing gas to market in regions where building a large onshore export plant is too difficult or too costly.
The seven FLNG projects sanctioned since 2023 will add 18 million tonnes per annum across six countries, according to the report, which notes that FLNG gives gas owners a way to export resources that might otherwise remain stranded.
“ACCORDING TO ANALYSIS FROM WOOD MACKENZIE, FLOATING LNG (FLNG) CAN DIVERSIFY SUPPLY CONCENTRATION AND RELIEVE SOME OF THE POTENTIAL MARKET SHORTFALL BY BRINGING GAS TO MARKET IN REGIONS WHERE BUILDING A LARGE ONSHORE EXPORT PLANT IS TOO DIFFICULT OR TOO COSTLY.”
