LNG remains frontrunner among low-carbon marine fuels

LNG’s technical maturity, availability and price, as well as regulation, have driven its rapid adoption as a marine fuel, yet its future in shipping will depend on transition policies and progress in cutting methane emissions and scaling bio- and synthetic LNG, according to Carlos Guerrero at Bureau Veritas

LNG has established itself as the dominant alternative marine fuel for the current decade, but its longer-term role will be shaped by regulation, fuel pricing and ongoing efforts to address associated methane emissions, Carlos Guerrero, global market leader for gas carriers at Bureau Veritas, told Petroleum Economist. That balancing act makes the future of LNG in shipping difficult to pin down with precision. “Looking into the future, it’s difficult to predict actually what is going to happen with all these energy transition scenarios and regulations, but judging from the newbuilding orders, LNG is currently the preferred alternative to oil fuels,” Guerrero said. One key point of regulatory