Natural gas transportation, NGH or LNG

Transportation of natural gas as hydrate or CNG is feasible at costs less than for LNG and where pipelines are not possible. The competitive advantage of the natural gas hydrate (NGH) or CNG routes over other non-pipeline gas transport processes is that they require simple technology. These could be options for handling niche markets for gas reserves which are stranded, associated gas which cannot be flared or re-injected, or small reservoirs which cannot otherwise be economically exploited. A comparison of the economic parameters for natural gas transportation in the form of NGH and LNG, from Asaluyeh port in the south of Iran to the different potential gas markets are presented. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 18th World Petroleum Congress (Johannesburg, South Africa 9/25-29/2007).