US-based technology company Honeywell has agreed to acquire the LNG process technology and equipment business from industrial gases supplier Air Products for $1.81bn.
In a press statement, Honeywell said it “will be able to offer customers a comprehensive, top-tier solution for their energy transformation journey”.
The equipment will carry out natural gas pre-treatment and liquefaction using digital automation technologies.
Honeywell already provides pre-treatment solutions to LNG customers, and the Air Product LNG process technology and equipment business will be complementary to existing services including the manufacturing of coil-wound heat exchangers (CWHE) and related equipment, added the statement.
Vimal Kapur, chairman and CEO of Honeywell, said that while “the world continues to build the renewables-based energy infrastructure of the future, natural gas is a critical lower-emission and affordable transition fuel”.
Kapur added that the “highly complementary acquisition will further strengthen our energy transition portfolio”.
Air Products’ CWHE technology will be immediately expand “our installed base, creating new opportunities to compound growth in aftermarket services and digitalisation through our Honeywell Forge platform”, Kapur added.
The global LNG market has grown in the two years following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with the US being an important source of the liquefied gas. It was the world’s largest exporter of LNG in 2023, overtaking Qatar and Australia.
According to US Government data, the US exported 8.6 million tonnes (mt) of LNG from its terminals in December 2023.
The data showed that Qatar was the largest exporter of LNG in 2022, with Australia coming in second. The US Energy Information Administration forecasts that LNG exports will increase by a further 2% in 2024.
In its statement, Honeywell pointed out that the global LNG market has quadrupled over the past 20 years and is expected to double over the next decade, with additional demand coming from the burgeoning data centre industry.
