Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
In 2018, natural gas consumption increased by almost 170 bcm - driven by economic growth, environmental policies encouraging coal-to-gas switching and weather-related effects, Trend reports citing Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF),
According to the GECF Global Gas Model (GGM), total primary energy demand in 2018 increased by 2.5 percent (or nearly 355 Mtoe), the fastest pace since the post-crisis rebound of 2010.
Energy consumption grew for all fuels, but the largest contribution came from natural gas, accounting for more than 40 percent of the rise in energy demand, reads the analysis released by GECF.
“After a 3.7 percent gain in 2017, global natural gas demand surged by an astonishing 4.5 percent in 2018. This second consecutive year of strong increase was almost three times higher than the 2010-2016 trend of an average 1.7 percent rise,” said the report.
The US (83 bcm) and China (35 bcm) were responsible for the lion’s share of this increase, according to GECF.
“However, whereas the rise in gas demand in the US was pulled by power generation requirements and strong needs for residential sector due to unusual winter and summer weather conditions, China’s gas consumption growth stemmed mostly from coal displacement in the industrial and domestic sectors to battle air pollution, accompanied by the increase in economic activity,” said the report.
Other major contributors to the 2018 gas demand growth were Russia – supported by the incremental increase from the gas-intensive industrial sector; Iran, with rising needs in power generation and petrochemical production; and South Korea due to nuclear reactor shutdown and limitation on coal generation, according to GECF.
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