Liquefied natural gas will meet about one-third of Asia's natural gas requirements by 2030, with demand boosted by increased use among electricity generators, said Exxon Mobil Corp., the biggest U.S. oil company.

Global LNG demand will more than triple between now and 2030, Alan Hirshberg, vice president for established area projects at Exxon Mobil, said today in Perth, Western Australia. Natural gas will account for about a quarter of global energy demand by 2030, up from about 20 percent now, he said.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon has a 25 percent stake in Chevron Corp.'s proposed Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia and leads a group set to start initial engineering and design work on an LNG plant in Papua New Guinea. The company also anticipates starting LNG projects in Africa and the Middle East during the coming years, Hirshberg said today.

``Exxon is aggressively working to develop all of our resources in this part of the world in which we have an interest,'' Hirshberg said at the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association conference. The company sees ``large potential'' to develop LNG projects in the Australian and Pacific region, he said.

Exxon and its partners in the Papua New Guinea project are ready to start engineering and design work as soon as an agreement is reached with the government of the Pacific nation on fiscal terms for the project, Hirshberg said.

The Gorgon venture, in which Royal Dutch Shell Plc has a stake, is making ``significant'' efforts to sell natural gas into the Western Australian market as well as for export in liquid form, Hirshberg said. Exxon is ``actively engaged'' in marketing its share of Gorgon LNG to potential buyers in Asia and will sign sale accords before the venture gives final approval for the investment, he said. The venture is ``some ways'' from a final investment decision.