LONDON: Europe’s increased need for liquefied natural gas (LNG) will fuel competition with Asia for the seaborne fuel over the next two years because global supply remains limited, Shell said on Thursday.

European countries, including the UK, imported 121 million tonnes of LNG last year, up 60% from 2021, helping the continent to cope with cuts to Russian pipeline imports after its invasion of Ukraine, Shell said in its LNG outlook for 2023.

“In the near term, the global LNG market is expected to remain tight and exposed to supply and demand shocks, with limited new supply coming online.

More investment in supply will be needed to meet future LNG demand,“ it said. Total global LNG trade reached 397 million tonnes in 2022.

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Industry forecasts expect demand for the chilled fuel to almost double to 700 million tonnes by 2040, Shell said, adding that a supply-demand gap is expected to emerge by the late 2020s.