* Australia set to overtake Qatar as world's top LNG exporter
* But Gladstone's LNG will add to global glut
* Asian spot LNG prices have fallen by two-thirds since 2014 (Adds LNG price data, comment, graphic)
By James Regan and Henning Gloystein
SYDNEY/SINGAPORE, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The first cargo vessel has docked at Australia's Gladstone liquefied natural gas project and will begin loading shortly for a maiden delivery to Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) 036460.KS , operator Santos Ltd STO.AX said on Monday.
Early cargoes from Gladstone LNG (GLNG), 30-percent-owned by Santos, will be sold on a spot basis until long-term delivery contracts for more than 90 percent of the output kick in after a commissioning period, a Santos spokesman told Reuters. ID:nL5N1132S5
Investors have spent $200 billion in the past years to build up Australia's LNG industry, which is expected to overtake Qatar as the world's biggest supplier for the super-cooled gas before the end of the decade.
GLNG produces natural gas from coal seams and converts it into LNG for shipping to buyers, mostly in Asia.
The project includes a 420-kilometre (260-mile) gas transmission pipeline and a two-train LNG plant on Curtis Island, near the community of Gladstone, and is designed to produce up to 7.8 million tonnes of LNG a year.
Other partners are Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) PETR.UL and France's Total TOTF.PA , each with 27.5 percent, and KOGAS with 15 percent.
Gladstone's first cargo will add to a market which has more supplies than customers need, pulling down Asian spot LNG prices LNG-AS by two-thirds since 2014, and analysts expect the glut to worsen as Asia's slowing economic growth is also hitting natural gas consumption. ID:nL5N113034
"Global LNG supply is set to grow 50 percent by 2020, outpacing material demand growth," Barclays (LONDON:BARC) said on Monday, adding that the supply excess would favour LNG buyers in negotiations with sellers.
The United States is also expected to export its first LNG cargo later this year as its shale exploration has led to production outpacing domestic demand growth.
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http://link.reuters.com/cuj55w
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