Category: Report

Global Gas Report 2022

This edition of the Global Gas Report covers two very turbulent years in the global gas industry and the wider global energy markets. The Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, with a brief period of excess supply and low prices, gave way to tight energy markets, extreme price volatility, and a compounding geopolitical challenge to energy security.

Global Renewable & Low-Carbon Gas Report

This is the first edition of the IGU Global Renewable and Low-Carbon Gas Report, which seeks to set a baseline and to promote interest among policymakers, industry stakeholders, and other relevant players in all forms of renewable and low-carbon gas. The key ambition we set out for this series is to track progress of renewable and low-carbon gases from their current early days and small beginnings today to becoming important fuels in the future decarbonised energy system.

Given the scale of the decarbonisation challenge, and the need for as many workable solutions as possible to ease the path to decarbonisation, all forms of renewable gas should be pursued as quickly as possible. This will require strong and clear policy support from governments globally, robust entrepreneurial initiative from the incumbent industry players and disruptors alike, and importantly – bankability and access to project finance.

World LNG Report 2021

The 12th annual World LNG Report looks back at an extraordinary year for the global gas industry.

The report provides unmatched insight into how the events of the exceptional 2020 that impacted the LNG market.

• Analysis of the key developments in demand, supply and pricing over the course of the period.
• Highlights LNG performance over other energy sources in its resilience during the crisis. Despite unprecedented circumstances, there was even a modest increase in global LNG trade last year to 356.1 MT.
• The LNG sector adjusted to great demand fluctuations with incredible agility during the year, navigating between huge drops in demand levels at the height of the pandemic lockdowns, through exceptional upward spikes of the winter deep freeze
• Global regasification capacity increased to reach a total of 850.1 MTPA as of February 2021, and continuing to expand access to clean and modern energy for more communities around the world. 
• Myanmar and Croatia joined the ranks of LNG customers most recently, and by the end of 2021, Ghana, El Salvador, Vietnam, and Nicaragua could also gain access to the global gas market.

Transitions toward Clean and Reliable Power Systems. A Case Study from Ontario, Canada.

Ontario has extreme weather-related peak demand conditions in both summer and winter, and natural gas supplies about 10% of flexible energy to the power grid, as well as winter heating. It was the first jurisdiction in North America to completely eliminate coal power generation, and it went through a significant and rapid energy transition as a result.

Ontario’s coal closure policy required the province to replace a quarter of its generation capacity in under a decade, and that was a major test of the already stressed electricity security of supply and reliability. Using a phased approach to taking coal stations out of service, Ontario replaced them with a mix of renewables, natural gas, and nuclear resources.

The transition was not a simple one, but the result is a clean and reliable electricity system, with impactful conservation policies and innovative market instruments, such as Demand Response auctions.

Gas Technology and Innovation for a Sustainable Future

The 1st Technology & Innovation report quantifies the contribution that gas technologies can make to the success of the global energy transition, helping to build sustainable cities and communities and to provide access to affordable and clean energy

Global Gas Report 2020

The Global Gas Report 2020, published by the International Gas Union (IGU), research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) and Snam, the Italian-headquartered international gas infrastructure company reviews key global gas industry developments over the last year, provides a high-level outlook for future gas market developments, and examines the potential of hydrogen as a clean fuel to help meet climate goals.

After growing by more than 2% in 2019, global gas use is set to fall by around 4% in 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic reduces energy consumption across the global economies. However, the resulting low gas prices, as well as clean air and climate policies, will promote further switching to gas from other more polluting energy sources, such as oil and coal. This trend was already underway before the pandemic, thanks to cost-competitive gas in key sectors including power, industry and transport, and major regions including Europe, North America and Asia.

The report shows that medium-term growth will come from increasing cost-competitiveness and increased global access to gas. A particular growth opportunity exists in liquefied natural gas. LNG imports reached 482 billion cubic meters in 2019, up 13% from 2018, and while this figure is expected to fall by around 4.2% in 2020, it could rebound quickly to previous levels as soon as 2021, depending on the persistence and longevity of the pandemic.

Ample natural gas resources exist to support demand growth, but greater gas infrastructure development is needed to support growth in the medium term. India is planning to almost double the length of its gas transmission grid, while China will grow its gas network about 60% by 2025.

Wholesale Price Survey 2020 Edition

The twelfth IGU Wholesale Gas Price Survey, which began in 2005, shows the trend towards gas-on-gas competition (GOG) in the global gas markets, continued in 2019.

The share of GOG rose by 1 percentage point in 2019 from 2018 to reach 48.4%. This was almost all at the expense of oil price escalation (OPE), the share of which, fell by around 1 percentage point, to 18.5%. This was largely driven by a significant shift in LNG imports to GOG and away from OPE. The rise in GOG LNG imports in 2019, reflected both a sharp rise in spot LNG cargoes and the rise in Europe LNG imports, as a result of the surge in LNG supply, focusing on the trading markets of Northwest Europe.

The rising trend in GOG in LNG imports was a continuation of the trend over the last three years. The total GOG share of LNG imports in 2016 was 25% and in 2019 that had risen to 41%. The rise between 2016 and 2018 was all due to rising spot LNG imports, while in 2019 the increase was split equally between spot LNG imports and the rush of LNG to Europe’s traded markets.

2020 World LNG Report

This 11th annual Global LNG Report features key global LNG industry updates, right across its value chain, demonstrating yet another strong year of growth for this crucial segment of the natural gas sector. LNG continues to enhance global energy security and increase the flexibility of access to abundant global gas supplies.

– In its sixth consecutive year of growth, the LNG trade increased by 13% to a total of 354.7 MT.

– FSRU continues to be an exciting and growing segment, improving access to modern energy and energy security worldwide. Of the 37 existing LNG import markets as of February 2020, 19 imported LNG with FSRUs, and six of those had onshore terminals as well.

– Export growth came from the USA, Russia and Australia, as well as Algeria and Egypt. The US is now the third-largest LNG exporter, behind Qatar and Australia, with Russia in the fourth spot.

– Asia Pacific and Asia remain the key centres of demand, and together they accounted for almost 70% of global LNG imports in 2018.

– 2019 was another record year of low prices, driven by increasing natural gas production, the commissioning of new export infrastructure and limited demand response from Asian markets.

2019 Case Studies in Urban Air Quality

Report highlights:

Morbi:

• In March, 2019 the National Green Tribunal issued a ban on the use of coal gasification in the ceramic units of Morbi-Wankaner area and ordered to close down all the coal gasifiers
• The existing natural gas distribution infrastructure enabled an immediate switch to natural gas, which in turn produced dramatic environmental and air quality improvements.
• The region’s air quality readings saw a 75% reduction in PM_2.5 levels, 72% reduction in PM₁₀, and an 85% reduction in SO₂.

London:

• LONDON saw a gradual improvement in its air quality, since the first introduction of its 1956 Clean Air Act
• It introduced measures that dramatically reduced the use of coal inside homes, which was replaced largely by natural gas and electricity.
• As a result, SO₂ concentrations generated from household dropped from more than 400 µg/m³ to less than 50 µg/m³.
• Most recently, the introduction of the Carbon Price Support program caused coal power generation to drop by 73% between 2013 and 2017, with the associated benefits in the reduction of air pollutants.

Bogota:

• BOGOTA has been on an overall positive trend in management of its air pollution, showing up in reduced levels of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 in recent years.
• One large contributor to the improvement has been the city’s bus rapid transport system (BRT) helped resolve the growing issues of traffic congestions resulting in drops of both emissions and air pollution
• At present, the city of Bogotá and Transmilenio are taking further action to reduce city pollution and renewing 70% of their bus fleet, with 53% of the new vehicles to be fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG).

Global Gas Report 2019

Snam, International Gas Union (IGU) and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) released the Global Gas Report 2019, the new edition of the annual report that examines key global gas market trends, looking at recent developments and assessing progress towards the leading role that gas is expected to play in the energy transition. This year’s report special feature is a section on the Future of Gas in Europe, co-produced with key European gas infrastructure operators: DESFA, Interconnector UK, Teréga and TAG.

Now in its third edition, the report reaffirms the positive scenario for natural gas. Over the past five years, the market has grown on average by 2% per year, and it is expected to maintain a similar growth rate until 2040 to reach 25% of the global energy mix, mainly due to its environmental benefits comparing to other fossil fuels, growing supply and increasingly competitive pricing.

The report highlights the key role that cost competitiveness, environmental credentials, and security of supply, will play if gas is to deliver its full potential – notwithstanding the diverse set of benefits that it offers to a world that is in the process of an unprecedented energy transition. It is a unique and abundant fuel that can reliably supply the world’s rapidly changing energy systems with more energy and support economic growth while helping to immediately cut emissions and improve air quality.