up..up... and away

Now looks to be in another leg up...

Looks like more at play then China connection OR POO or Maritanian interests.. what exactly is driving it higher? Maybe a combination of all 3.

Im not sure I understand why would Sheel sell out of WPL anyways, China maybe buying there own parcel.

This in this mornings AFR:

Bright future for LNG exporters

Nov 29 11:29
Dow
Demand for liquefied natural gas from the Asia-Pacific region is projected to almost double over the next decade, driven by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, according to a report published today.

Robust growth in demand is also expected from the emerging markets of India and China as well as the west coast of North America, providing opportunities for Australia's exporters, the chief commodities forecaster says.

Australia is one of the largest potential suppliers of LNG to the Asia-Pacific, with several proposed projects over the next 10 years that could more than quadruple the country's export capacity from its present 11.7 million tonnes from Western Australia's North- West Shelf project, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics says.

But Australia will face strong competition over the coming decade, including from Indonesia, Russia and the Middle East.

Abare estimates LNG demand in the Asia-Pacific will rise to 119 million tonnes by 2010 from 83 million tonnes in 2003.

It is then forecast to swell to 150 million tonnes by 2015, or possibly as high as 163 million tonnes under a "high-growth scenario", Abare says.

"In addition to projected market growth for which new long-term supply contracts have not yet been signed, a number of significant existing contracts will expire in the next 10 years," acting Abare executive director Vivek Tulpule said.

"Taking both factors into account, it is anticipated that there could be up to 76 million tonnes of uncontracted LNG demand in the region in 2015, assuming no further contracts are signed or renewed," he said, adding that the largest uncontracted demand is in Japan, Korea and China.

Mr Tulpule noted competition for markets among existing LNG suppliers would be intense, though there would be a key role for new projects.

He also said that while LNG supply capacity over the coming decade was significant, export capacity wasn't expected to overshoot demand, with many projects likely to wait until markets had been secured before proceeding.