A strategy for the commercial development of the liquified natural gas industry in a country with a large natural gas reserve.

The study concerns strategies for development of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry in a country which has large reserves of natural gas. Its aims were to identify the most applicable business management approaches to produce a process that new or existing LNG organizations could adopt for development of strategy and to demonstrate the application of the recommended process to the LNG industry of the State of Qatar. Applicability of business strategy theories to LNG was reviewed. As a result, SWOT and Value Chain analysis are recommended for assessment of the internal business environment. The PESTE and Five Forces techniques are recommended for analysis of industry structure and external business environment. Uncertainty in the future of the global LNG market has led to the recommendation that scenario planning techniques be used to aid the development of strategy. A thorough review of the LNG industry structure has been carried out. LNG is traded internationally between a small number of producers and consumers. Contracts for supply and purchase of LNG tend to have long durations (25 years) and the contracted selling price of LNG tends to be linked to the price of crude oil. Consumers tend to import LNG from more than one producer. Some LNG is traded on the spot market, but it is expected that the amounts traded this way will remain small. LNG industry development is capital intensive which calls for co-operation between the host countries and international stakeholders. The international investors also provide support in marketing, finance, technology and know-how. Increased use of pipelines and development of Gas-to-Liquids technologies are considered to be the most likely competitors to the LNG industry. The recommended strategic process has been demonstrated by applying it to the LNG industry of the State of Qatar. Scenarios were developed based on information gathered from a survey of knowledgeable people in the global industry. The main factors which scored high ratings in the survey were LNG demand and political stability. Four scenarios were developed based on these factors. A recommended strategy for Qatar LNG was then formulated. The research has shown how scenario planning can be integrated with conventional analysis of business environment and how survey results can be used to inform a scenario planning exercise. Overall, the main contribution of the research has been the production of an integrated process for development of LNG business strategies.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Robert Gordon University

Year dc:date.issued

2003

Author dc:creator

• Al-Hajri, Khalid K.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• R. Green, T. Mason and M. Raj

• Liquefied natural gas (LNG)
• SWOT analysis
• Value chain analysis
• PESTE analysis
• Porter's Five Forces
• Scenario planning
• Qatar

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:2807273
https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-2807273

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:2807273