BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.25
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
In the short term, global pipeline gas trade is expected to rise consistently, driven by an uptick in gas demand amid the lifting of COVID-19 related restrictions and, possibly, colder-thanusual winter seasons, Trend reports with reference to the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).
“The completion of new gas pipelines in Europe, China and Mexico may contribute to pipeline gas trade growth. GECF Member Countries account for a major part of new export pipeline gas projects. In 2019 and 2020, GECF Member Countries commissioned 85.5 Bcma of new export capacity, with Russia completing the Power of Siberia (38 Bcma) in December 2019 and TurkStream (31.5 Bcma) in January 2020 and Azerbaijan completing the Southern Gas Corridor (16 Bcma) in November 2020. In 2021 and 2022, 65 Bcma of new export capacity will be commissioned by GECF Member Countries, with Russia completing Nord Stream 2 (55 Bcma) and Norway completing Baltic Pipe (10 Bcma),” reads the GECF report.
The contractual obligations of European importers under take-or-pay clauses will facilitate PNG trade growth, according to the organization.
The report shows that in Asia, China is expected to step up PNG imports from Russia through Power of Siberia pipeline and increase gradually supply from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and, possibly, Myanmar amid a robust growth in the domestic gas demand.
“In the Middle East, Israel may increase PNG supply to its neighbors. In Latin America, PNG trade will depend largely on shale gas developments in Argentina and dynamics of regional LNG imports. In 2020, global pipeline gas trade, based on the net flows approach, declined by 4 percent to 525 Bcm, driven by a drop in global gas demand amid the COVID-19-related restrictions. The net flows approach enables us to avoid double counting of some pipeline gas flows, including re-exports of pipeline gas and exports of regasified LNG. Based on the gross flows approach, global pipeline gas trade dropped by 7 percent to 766 Bcm. In net pipeline gas imports, Europe was the leader with 58 percent of the market, while Asia Pacific and North America represented 14 percent and 11 percent, respectively,” said the GECF.
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