Baku, Azerbaijan, June 7
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Natural gas consumption is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 1.6% to 2024, returning to the pre-2017 trend, according to the Gas 2019 report of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“2018’s strong growth is unlikely to be the norm in the future because of slowing economic growth, declining potential for switching from coal to gas, and a return to average weather conditions after last year’s exceptionally hot summer in the northern hemisphere. By 2024, gas consumption is forecast to exceed 4.3 trillion cubic metres (tcm) – compared with 3.9 tcm in 2018,” Trend reports citing the IEA.
The report shows that industry remains the principal driver of the increase in gas demand.
“Industrial use of natural gas, both as a fuel and a feedstock, is set to grow at an average annual rate of 3 percent and represent 46 percent of the rise in global consumption to 2024. Gas in power generation is expected to increase at a slower rate because of strong competition from renewables and coal. But power generation will remain the largest consumer of natural gas, accounting for almost 40% of total demand by 2024,” said the IEA.
In general, IEA says that 2018 was another golden year for natural gas.
“Demand grew 4.6 percent, its fastest annual pace since 2010, with gas accounting for 45 percent of the total increase in primary energy consumption worldwide. The United States and the People’s Republic of China were the two main contributors to this increase, owing to a combination of economic growth, moves to switch from coal to gas, and above average weather-related energy needs,” reads the report.
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