Released June 26, 2024 | SUGAR LAND
en
Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Natural gas prices around the world fell sharply in 2023, but most regions did not experience much of a gain in usage, according to the recently released Statistical Review of World Energy 2024. Traditional economic thinking is that when the price of goods falls, demand for those goods rises. But the report, written by the Energy Institute (London, England), in collaboration with KPMG (Amstelveen, Netherlands) and Kearney (Chicago, Illinois), does not try to explain this apparent anomaly.
Worldwide natural gas use in 2023 was approximately 4,010 billion cubic meters (Bcm), or about 141.6 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), about 0.02% more than 2022 usage of 4,009 Bcm, which was roughly 141.5 Tcf. This despite 2023 natural gas prices falling anywhere from 22% in Japan to 64% in the U.S. to 65% in the Netherlands. Granted, the price decline last year was from historic highs in 2022, triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Click the image at right to see three years of natural gas prices in markets around the world.
But global gas use was up meaningfully from demand in pre-COVID 2019. This is most noticeable in China, which saw gas use rise about 31% over that 2019-2023 period, from 308 Bcm in 2019 to 405 Bcm in 2023.
As per its title, the report consists almost entirely of data; narrative explanations or year-over-year cause-and-effect linkages are scant. Certainly in China's case, a rapidly industrializing economy is the main driver of increased gas use.
In the U.S., gas use over the 2019-2023 period increased about 4%, from approximately 851 Bcm in 2019 to 886 Bcm in 2023. U.S. gas production over that five-year span grew about 11.6%, from 928 Bcm in 2019 to 1,035 Bcm in 2023.
On a global basis, gas production remained relatively constant compared to 2022. The U.S. remained the largest producer of gas, delivering around a quarter of the world's supply, the report noted. Last year, U.S. gas production exceeded consumption by about 149 Bcm, most of which was exported as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Only three other world regions--the Middle East, the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Africa--saw gas production exceed consumption last year. Gas consumption significantly exceeded production in Europe and Asia Pacific in 2023, the report said.
Click on the image at right to see a snapshot of 2023 gas production and consumption in different world regions.
The statistical report noted that worldwide LNG supply increased about 2%, or 10 Bcm, to about 549 Bcm last year. That year, the U.S. overtook Qatar as the world's largest exporter of LNG, seeing its supply increase nearly 10% versus a 2% drop from Qatar. The Russia Federation saw falls in both its LNG and pipeline exports, with LNG dropping nearly 2% (0.8 Bcm) and pipeline supplies dropping around 24% (30 Bcm), as Europe slashed its imports of Russian gas in protest over the invasion of Ukraine.
At a June 20 press event where the Statistical Review of World Energy 2024 was released, speakers from the Energy Institute, KPMG and Kearney did not try to explain year-over-year changes in gas consumption or production. Rather, they took a "20,000 foot" approach and rued, in general terms, growing worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and rising global temperatures--the latter perhaps not surprising given the soaring temperatures the world experienced in 2023 and so far in 2024.
In the current heat dome engulfing the U.S., scores of temperature records have been broken. An estimated 100 million people across 27 states in the U.S. are sweltering under the heat dome currently.
Natural gas emits less CO2 when combusted than coal or oil. It was the second-largest source of primary energy in 2023, accounting for about 164 exajoules (EJ), trailing coal at 196 EJ but leading oil at 144 EJ. On a percentage basis, gas was the second-largest source of primary energy last year, contributing about 26% of worldwide primary energy use--again, trailing coal (32%) but leading oil (23%), the report noted.
Click on the image at right to see global primary energy consumption in 2023, both in absolute and percentage terms.
For more on the Energy Institute's analysis of global coal and oil supply and demand in 2023, see June 21, 2024, article - Global Coal Use Hit New Record in 2023, Contributing to Record CO2 Emissions and June 24, 2024, article - Global Oil Use Exceeded 100 Million Barrels Per Day in 2023.
At the report's June 20 launch event, speakers' inoffensive comments appeared intentional, as several said the statistical report would serve as a benchmark of reliable data on energy use, from which policymaker and corporate heads could use as they saw fit. Unlike leaders at the International Energy Agency (IEA) (Paris, France), who regularly imbue their reports with sharp calls for decarbonizing global energy production and use, speakers from the Energy Institute, KPMG and Kearney appeared to be making relatively innocuous comments.
Simon Virley, vice chair and head of the energy and natural resources practice at KPMG in the U.K., said this at the June 20 press event: "With CO2 emissions reaching record levels, it's time to redouble our efforts on reducing carbon emissions and providing finance and capacity to build more low-carbon energy sources in the global south where demand is growing at a rapid pace."
Another speaker, Romain Debarre, partner and managing director of Kearney's Energy Transition Institute, added this: "We hope that this report will help governments, world leaders and analysts move forward, clear-eyed about the challenge that lies ahead, and ready to take a lead in promoting and enabling the use of clean energy across the world."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
Worldwide natural gas use in 2023 was approximately 4,010 billion cubic meters (Bcm), or about 141.6 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), about 0.02% more than 2022 usage of 4,009 Bcm, which was roughly 141.5 Tcf. This despite 2023 natural gas prices falling anywhere from 22% in Japan to 64% in the U.S. to 65% in the Netherlands. Granted, the price decline last year was from historic highs in 2022, triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
But global gas use was up meaningfully from demand in pre-COVID 2019. This is most noticeable in China, which saw gas use rise about 31% over that 2019-2023 period, from 308 Bcm in 2019 to 405 Bcm in 2023.
As per its title, the report consists almost entirely of data; narrative explanations or year-over-year cause-and-effect linkages are scant. Certainly in China's case, a rapidly industrializing economy is the main driver of increased gas use.
In the U.S., gas use over the 2019-2023 period increased about 4%, from approximately 851 Bcm in 2019 to 886 Bcm in 2023. U.S. gas production over that five-year span grew about 11.6%, from 928 Bcm in 2019 to 1,035 Bcm in 2023.
On a global basis, gas production remained relatively constant compared to 2022. The U.S. remained the largest producer of gas, delivering around a quarter of the world's supply, the report noted. Last year, U.S. gas production exceeded consumption by about 149 Bcm, most of which was exported as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Only three other world regions--the Middle East, the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Africa--saw gas production exceed consumption last year. Gas consumption significantly exceeded production in Europe and Asia Pacific in 2023, the report said.
The statistical report noted that worldwide LNG supply increased about 2%, or 10 Bcm, to about 549 Bcm last year. That year, the U.S. overtook Qatar as the world's largest exporter of LNG, seeing its supply increase nearly 10% versus a 2% drop from Qatar. The Russia Federation saw falls in both its LNG and pipeline exports, with LNG dropping nearly 2% (0.8 Bcm) and pipeline supplies dropping around 24% (30 Bcm), as Europe slashed its imports of Russian gas in protest over the invasion of Ukraine.
At a June 20 press event where the Statistical Review of World Energy 2024 was released, speakers from the Energy Institute, KPMG and Kearney did not try to explain year-over-year changes in gas consumption or production. Rather, they took a "20,000 foot" approach and rued, in general terms, growing worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and rising global temperatures--the latter perhaps not surprising given the soaring temperatures the world experienced in 2023 and so far in 2024.
In the current heat dome engulfing the U.S., scores of temperature records have been broken. An estimated 100 million people across 27 states in the U.S. are sweltering under the heat dome currently.
Natural gas emits less CO2 when combusted than coal or oil. It was the second-largest source of primary energy in 2023, accounting for about 164 exajoules (EJ), trailing coal at 196 EJ but leading oil at 144 EJ. On a percentage basis, gas was the second-largest source of primary energy last year, contributing about 26% of worldwide primary energy use--again, trailing coal (32%) but leading oil (23%), the report noted.
For more on the Energy Institute's analysis of global coal and oil supply and demand in 2023, see June 21, 2024, article - Global Coal Use Hit New Record in 2023, Contributing to Record CO2 Emissions and June 24, 2024, article - Global Oil Use Exceeded 100 Million Barrels Per Day in 2023.
At the report's June 20 launch event, speakers' inoffensive comments appeared intentional, as several said the statistical report would serve as a benchmark of reliable data on energy use, from which policymaker and corporate heads could use as they saw fit. Unlike leaders at the International Energy Agency (IEA) (Paris, France), who regularly imbue their reports with sharp calls for decarbonizing global energy production and use, speakers from the Energy Institute, KPMG and Kearney appeared to be making relatively innocuous comments.
Simon Virley, vice chair and head of the energy and natural resources practice at KPMG in the U.K., said this at the June 20 press event: "With CO2 emissions reaching record levels, it's time to redouble our efforts on reducing carbon emissions and providing finance and capacity to build more low-carbon energy sources in the global south where demand is growing at a rapid pace."
Another speaker, Romain Debarre, partner and managing director of Kearney's Energy Transition Institute, added this: "We hope that this report will help governments, world leaders and analysts move forward, clear-eyed about the challenge that lies ahead, and ready to take a lead in promoting and enabling the use of clean energy across the world."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
