Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has become an essential part of the global energy transition. New mega-trains and export terminals are rapidly increasing supply. Roughly 300 billion cubic meters per year of new liquefaction capacity is expected to come online worldwide by 2030.

Yet despite this rapid expansion, the LNG market is anything but stable. The shock of lost Russian pipeline gas, the surge in European LNG imports, project delays, and tighter supply forecasts for 2025 have created a suite of challenges. LNG operators must grow, decarbonize, and operate more efficiently—all at once. LNG digitalization, with optimization built in from the start, is how LNG leaders are navigating this complex landscape.

LNG producers face specific challenges
Even as LNG demand is expected to grow, producers face a widening set of challenges:
1. A fragile global supply–demand balance
The IEA reports that LNG markets remain tight due to slower supply growth and geopolitical uncertainty. Conflicts in Europe and the Middle East have complicated supply, and new LNG projects often have to compete for limited resources. The United States could meet between 70-80% of LNG demand based on planned developments, but this concentration of projects could create complications.

According to McKinsey, this could result in a supply shortage ranging from 100 to 130 million tons per annum from 2030 onwards.

2. Unpredictable capital costs
Tariffs on steel and critical components that LNG production requires can slow project timelines or push projects over budget. Cryogenic steel, for example, already expensive, could be subject to tariffs of over 50%.

3. Shrinking EPC contractor pool
The number of qualified contractors available is shrinking, with only six primary EPC contractors working on most new large-volume LNG projects. This small contractor pool has led to bottlenecks, backlogs, and higher risk premiums to secure contractors.

4. Massive growth in energy demand
Hyperscale data centers alone are projected to add 100–200 terawatt hours (TWh) of annual power demand by 2030,[5] increasing the need for firm, flexible generation. As renewables scale faster than grid infrastructure, LNG-to-power becomes even more essential—raising expectations for reliability and efficiency.

5. Aging infrastructure and workforce
Existing liquefaction capacity is quickly aging. More than 120 million tons/year of liquefaction capacity is over 20 years old.[6] Additionally, the operators, engineers, and technicians of LNG plants are aging out of the workforce. LNG plants are complex facilities that rely heavily on institutional knowledge, and losing this expertise has major implications for operational efficiency, safety, and OPEX.

LNG optimization is the first principle
For decades, LNG companies have bolted optimization onto systems after startup, layering performance analytics on top of control systems and data infrastructure that were finalized during EPC and configured only for basic monitoring and control—not real-time optimization. But by the time a project goes live, inefficiencies are already baked in. Engineering teams redesign from scratch.

Operators gather data manually. Insights stay locked in siloed systems. Every improvement becomes a custom job. And every fix becomes expensive.

Today, the industry needs a different approach—one where optimization isn’t the last step but the first principle.

How can LNG operators reduce preventable losses?
To remain competitive, LNG operators need to embed optimization throughout the life cycle—from design to operations to analytics.

No matter where LNG companies are on their digitalization journey, it all starts with a connected digital backbone that unifies engineering data, real-time operations data, and advanced analytics.

With this kind of connected digital backbone, LNG companies can:
• Design once, deploy everywhere.
• Eliminate rework by connecting engineering and operations from day one.
• Give field operators the same digital experience they expect in everyday life.
• Use live digital twins to identify energy savings, reliability issues, and production risks early.
• Leverage low-cost sensing systems to solve instrumentation gaps.
• Turn variability into predictable performance.

It’s not a theory. It’s happening across the industry.

Nigeria LNG saves 50% in preventable losses
Nigeria LNG operates six trains producing roughly 10% of the world’s LNG consumption. At this scale, even small inefficiencies become highly expensive.

Using a suite of AVEVA engineering and operations tools, Nigeria LNG created a cloud-enabled digital twin of its trains, combining design data, 3D models, engineering documentation, real-time AVEVA™ PI System™ data, and predictive analytics.

This unified backbone allowed teams across the enterprise—from field operators to executives—to access the same insights. The result:
• 50% reduction in preventable losses
• Higher reliability and better early-failure warnings
• Improved production output
This is the compounding effect of optimization embedded, not after the fact but at the core.

Dragon LNG saves $1M a year in energy savings
Dragon LNG needed to reduce unnecessary energy consumption and accelerate its path to net zero by 2029. Partnering with AtkinsRealis, a global engineering and infrastructure services company, they deployed a live digital twin powered by AVEVA PI System, AVEVA™ Process Simulation, and AVEVA™ PI Vision™.

By simulating and analyzing real-time performance across production, compression, and logistics, Dragon LNG discovered energy inefficiencies previously invisible to operators.

The outcome:
• $1M in annual energy savings
• Better visibility across end-to-end operations
• A scalable foundation for further decarbonization

With these tangible results, Dragon LNG and AtkinsRealis set a new benchmark for digital transformation in LNG operations.

Cameron LNG empowers the connected worker
Historically, Cameron LNG’s workers lacked real-time field data, with manual data entry causing delays of 30-60 minutes on average. Because of this, operators lacked visibility into equipment performance. So Cameron LNG used AVEVA Mobile Operator to streamline data collection, analysis, and reporting. This saved field workers time, reduced errors, enhanced safety, and optimized operations.

In addition to its wireless-connected field workers, Cameron LNG also introduced wireless industrial field sensors to collect, share, and perform analysis on equipment. With low-cost sensors feeding into the AVEVA PI System, teams can catch issues early, understand performance under different weather conditions, and optimize production in real time.

Cameron LNG demonstrates the power of layering analytics on top of a connected, scalable data foundation.

Cameron LNG easily accesses information from the field in AVEVA PI Vision displays.

LNG leaders are setting the foundation now
The LNG industry’s pressures are real: volatile markets, rising demand, increasingly complex supply conditions, and the need to decarbonize at scale. But the companies that thrive will be the ones that treat optimization not as a final step but as the foundation.

As the market grows more complex—and as new supply reshapes global dynamics—operators will need:
• Predictive maintenance instead of reactive repairs
• Digital twins instead of static models
• Connected workers instead of blind spots in the field
• Life cycle engineering data instead of fragmented documentation
• Real-time analytics instead of lagged decision-making

With AVEVA’s digital backbone, LNG operators can turn complexity into consistency and pressure into performance—designing once, deploying everywhere, and adapting continuously. Structure what’s repeatable. Optimize what’s not.
Source: AVEVA