TOKYO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Inpex, Japan's biggest oil and gas producer, expects global demand for liquefied natural gas to grow by 75% to some 700 million metric tonnes annually in 2035, potentially resulting in a supply shortfall in the Pacific coastal region, including Asia.
Inpex, which runs the Ichthys LNG project in Australia and develops the Abadi LNG facility in Indonesia, expects global LNG demand to increase from the current level of 400 million tons per year driven by the needs of the Asia-Oceania region, it said in its results presentation published on Thursday.
It forecast an annual supply shortfall in the Pacific coastal region of 231 million tons in 2035, and expects oversupply of 137 million tonnes and 56 million tonnes in the Atlantic coastal region and the Indian Ocean coastal region, respectively.
Inpex reported a 7.8% fall in net profit to 393.8 billion yen ($2.6 billion) in the year to December on weaker oil prices. It forecasts a 16.2% decrease in profit this year to 330 billion yen as lower oil prices are expected to persist.
"Despite falling profit this year, we are increasing the dividend and sharply raising growth investments," Daisuke Yamada, senior managing executive officer, told a press conference.
"This demonstrates that we have a reasonable degree of confidence in our future earnings performance."
The company forecast a dividend of 108 yen per share, compared with 100 yen in 2025, and projected investment in growth areas of 850 billion yen, up from 386.9 billion yen in 2025.
Of the total, 809 billion yen will be allocated to oil and gas, with 500 billion yen earmarked for investments directly linked to future revenue generation, including development of the Abadi project, exploration, facility expansions and new energy asset acquisitions, Yamada said.
"To bridge the revenue gap until Abadi production ramps up in 2030s, we plan to make significant investments this year while oil prices remain relatively stable, thereby securing the cash flow needed during this interim phase," he said.
($1 = 153.0100 yen)
Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Jane Merriman
Source: Reuters