For LNG systems to work there are four things that have to be in place. The first is a reliable supply of natural gas (ensuring an adequate return on the investment required for the remaining three); then there must be a liquefaction facility; an adequate supply of LNG tankers, and a regasification facility at the far end. One cannot create domestic acceptance of a regasification facility, and there has been some considerable debate as to where the additional facilities will ultimately end up I gave some information here , Glenn has written about the one on Long Island Sound, bunyonhead has written about the coming plants in the UK, and Dave has an excellent primer on the topic.

I was trying to ask about the first of the first two of the things listed - the reliable supply and the liquefaction facilities. If we can't get that far, the LNG tankers and the regasification facilities at our end don't matter.

The article sounds like we are working at least somewhat on the reliable supply issue - but is this going to actually lead to a significant increase in the amount of LNG on the world market?

Qatar is probably the largest producer . Nigeria also has several trains working, the Angolan LNG site has a really cool intro that makes it worth a visit just for that, and Algeria has been doing it the longest . There is a more comprehensive list here

Oops, I also missed Australia , Yemen which all of a sudden is having some problems, and Iran . At one time Indonesia was very prominent, but it has been having problems and has not been fulfilling some contracts, as well as having domestic use issues.

Here's some factors which could undercut Australia's LNG exports when present contracts have expired;
1) a northwest to southeast transcontinental pipeline
2) large truck fleets switching from diesel to CNG
3) fear of future carbon taxation leading to more combined cycle gas fired generation and backup for renewables.

Actually after some more research, I see that Dave Cohen covered the Pars field in his article in (June 2006 http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/6/8/155013/7696#comments) -- and provides a link to a Simmons & Co report on the Pars gas field http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/files/Qatar%20Report.pdf

According to the report:
"By 2015, Qatar will account for approximately 1/4th of the world’s LNG liquefaction capacity. Calculated differently, approximately 1/3rd of the expected growth in global LNG supplies from now through 2015 are expected to come from the North field (Pars) alone."

Thus, LNG expansion depends to a large degree on a gas field (Pars) that is not understood fully geologically (from the Simmons report) and could be disputed territorially by Iran and Qatar.