Asia needs market reforms to capitalize on the "golden opportunity" represented by liquefied natural gas, the International Energy Agency said Thursday.

The IEA issued a report saying natural gas prices in Asia may be as much as four times as high as in other markets. Asian demand for gas, meanwhile, is expected to grow by as much as 8 trillion cubic feet, while 5.3 trillion cubic feet of new supplies of liquefied natural gas come on stream by 2020.

"The advent of new LNG supplies represents a golden opportunity for Asia, but first the region's governments must address the rigid and illiquid markets that undermine affordability and accessibility for consumers," IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said in a statement from Tokyo.

Asian energy demand has drawn interest from some of the world's largest natural gas producing nations. In September, Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russian energy company Gazprom, said Asia "is the most attractive" market for companies like his.

By 2030, Gazprom said it expects the Asia-Pacific region will account for 25 percent of the total consumption of natural gas.

A country like Thailand, meanwhile, may exhaust its own reserve base within nine years, analysis from consultant group Wood Mackenzie found.

Peter Coleman, chief executive of Woodside Energy Ltd., which controls regional LNG projects that could supply Asia, said market dynamics were inhibiting the long-term prospects for new gas developments.

The LNG industry is facing rising costs, he said, and low oil prices only add to the uncertainty moving forward.

"A prolonged oil price slump will impact returns on existing LNG projects as well as threaten future

projects," he said at a regional gas conference.

The IEA's report said LNG infrastructure is capital- and energy-intensive, but runs the risk of losing its market share to everything from carbon-intensive coal to low-carbon electricity sources.

"For gas to be a sustainable contributor to energy security in the region, Asia must look to reforms," van der Hoeven said.