Gas and LNG come out from oil’s shadow, part 3: LNG and a global market
The third part of our fourth chapter on the history of oil takes the story of gas to the present day with the rise of LNG and the creation of a truly global market
The oil-focused energy crises of the 1970s not only helped spur pipeline development in Europe but also helped bring the relatively new technology of LNG into its own and drive its uptake. In time, this would revolutionise the gas trade, eventually making it a truly global market. It all began with a voyage by a converted cargo ship, the Methane Pioneer, which took 5,000cm of LNG from Lake Charles, Louisiana to the UK’s Canvey Island in 1959. This ‘proof of concept’ voyage demonstrated that such a cargo could be safely and effectively transported long distances, even if this early effort employed glass fibre and balsa wood as insulation. Commercial LNG trade followed soon after. The first
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
