(June 5 2012)
Natural gas use will increase in the medium term, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) as China will more than double consumption over the next five years while lower prices from the unconventional gas revolution in the United States will boost its use of natural gas.
Today at the World Gas Conference, the IEA released its Medium-Term Gas Market Report 2012, a part of a series of IEA medium-term market reports also featuring coal, oil and renewable energy.
According to the report, a quarter of new gas demand will come from China, another quarter from the Middle East and other Asian countries together, and a fifth from North America. On average, annual growth in global gas demand will be 2.7% through 2017 (up from the 2.4% annual growth rate predicted in last year’s report). During the period, North America will become a net LNG exporter, and low gas prices will result in gas generating almost as much electricity as coal in the United States by 2017.
In terms of supply most new production will come from the Former Soviet Union and North America. Further growth in unconventional gas will come mostly from shale gas in North America China and Poland. The IEA expects Global gas trade will expand by 35% in this time period.