Welcome to the 11th issue of the Global Voice of Gas magazine, an International Gas Union publication, produced in collaboration with Natural Gas World (NGW). [To Download, Scroll Dow ]

• Unusually mild temperature, together with suppressed demand in recent months, have thankfully led global natural gas prices to ease from record heights last year. Nevertheless, prices are still two to three times higher than what was considered the norm prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is clear that the energy crisis is far from over. The next few winters could prove harsher, and only limited extra LNG supply is expected to arrive on the market until the mid-2020s, while demand from the Asian markets is likely to come back, at least partly, as China’s economy ramps back up.
• To avoid future crises, energy policy should seek to become more pragmatic than it has been in the recent decade. There needs to be greater focus on planning for the long-term security of supply, while taking steps now to lower emissions. The energy transition journey needs to be plotted from today all the way to the destination – of achieving a low-emissions system that can provide affordable modern energy to a growing world. Natural gas is an invaluable tool for the world to reach a netzero future, while avoiding volatility and economic hardship. It is an abundant, flexible, and efficient source of cleaner energy that supports resiliency, helps to accommodate greater shares of renewables, and opens a path to decarbonising hard-to-electrify sectors using renewable natural gas, hydrogen, and other low and zero emissions gaseous fuels. At current prices, the value of natural gas is severely limited. But those prices are also a signal that investment in new supply must not only continue, but grow.
• Europe has been perceived as the epicentre of the current crisis, given the shock it has sustained from the loss of Russian pipeline gas supply over the last year. But in other parts of the world, especially in Asia, some nations have undergone even greater economic turmoil as a result of high energy costs. In this edition of GVG, we take a look at how China, India and Japan – Asia’s three largest economies – have coped with the energy crisis, the impact it has had on their climate aspirations, and how it changed their domestic gas consumption plans.
• Despite these challenges, momentum continues to build behind the development of carbon capture and storage in Asia, and this edition takes a snapshot of the key projects taking shape in the region. Africa too has been hit hard, suffering inflation of food, energy, and supply chain costs, but its substantial natural gas reserves can be used not only to support its own economic prosperity and end energy poverty, but also provide the wider world with more reliable and cleaner energy. This issue of GVG explores a new report, produced by the IGU in partnership with Hawilti Ltd, that assesses this potential.
• A renewed sense of pragmatism was seen at CERAWeek, one of the most preeminent global energy gatherings that took place in Houston on March 6-10, as GVG reports. The main takeaway from the week was that ideological debates about individual fuels will not get the world any closer to the goal of reduced emissions. The single focus should be on achieving economy-wide emissions reductions with affordable clean solutions that also match the needs of energy users.
• We are also very pleased to include in this edition a new section on decarbonising energy through Innovation and Technology, featuring an article by Mark Davis, CEO of Capterio, who describes the work that his young company is doing to support the oil and gas industry in reducing flaring, while creating value and accelerating the energy transition and the bumpy start-up journey it took to get there.
• Ahead of LNG2023 in Vancouver this summer, the edition also takes a look at Canada’s cutting-edge LNG projects with innovative partnerships between developers and Canada’s Indigenous communities