Global demand for natural gas is forecast to grow at an average of 1.6 percent, reaching just over 4,100 billion cubic meters over the next five years with emerging Asian markets as the main engine for demand, according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) annual gas market report released on Tuesday.
According to the report, China is set to dominate rising gas demand, accounting for a third of global demand growth to 2022 'thanks in part to the country's 'Blue Skies' policy and the strong drive to improve air quality'.
The IEA said that industry would be the main driver for gas consumption growth in the country, led by the chemical and manufacturing sectors.
'Meanwhile, gas demand in the residential and commercial sectors are clearly benefiting from the ongoing coal-to-gas switch,' it added.
The report shows that globally, the industry sector is set to replace power generation as the main driver of growth, with natural gas being used for not only energy for processes but also feedstock for chemicals.
According to the IEA, the U.S. is set to account for the largest share of supply expansion - and the main contributor to export growth.
'Meanwhile Europe's dependency on imports increases, leading to potential competition between traditional suppliers such as Russia and new sources of supply, mainly from LNG,' it said.
The agency also underlined that LNG was the main driver of global trade growth, principally coming from the U.S., Australia and Russia.
According to the report, Japan remains the largest LNG importer, but it is China and other developing Asian markets that see their share of trade increase substantially, reaching 45 percent of trade volumes by 2023 - more than double the share of 2013.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr