Cedigaz Sec. Gen. Marie-Françoise Chabrelie said it had not been foreseen that rising gas prices would stimulate producing countries as much as it had. Chabrelie said LNG accounted for much of the world gas trade growth.
Marketed gas production
Preliminary figures for world marketed gas production reached 2,930 billion cu m (bcm), up 2.9% over the revised 2005 figure of 2,848 bcm and driven by buoyant activity in a context of tension in the world energy market as oil prices remained at $65/bbl on average.
Although repairs of damage wrought by 2005 hurricanes continued well into 2006,
In the former
Marketed gas production in Europe, which includes EU-25,
In contrast, dynamic local markets and exports resulted in gas production increases in Latin America, with a 4.5% production increase to 143.3 bcm; the Middle East with a 5% production upsurge to 328.2 bcm; and Africa with a 9.9% production hike to 190.5 bcm.
Asia-Oceania marketed gas production posted an estimated 4.3% production hike to 377 bcm.
World gas pipeline trade
While world gas trade averaged a 5.4%/year increase over the past decade, in 2006 international trade grew by "a very modest" 2.5% to 886 bcm. This was due to stagnating pipeline flows, including intra-FSU trade, which fell 1.1% to a tentatively estimated 128 bcm.
Pipeline flows in and to Europe and in
Europe"s total gas supplies last year increased by 0.7% to 542 bcm, a figure that includes the region"s own production, which accounted for 54% of its overall supplies. However, despite the startup of two new gas lines to supply the
With about 84 bcm exported to the continent and the UK, up 3.2% over 2005, Norway accounted for 15.5% of Europe"s total gas supplies. Gas exports from the
LNG trade
Within the world gas trade, which now accounts for 30.2% of world marketed production, the share of LNG (including intra-FSU trade) was 23.8% and accounted for 7.2% of total volumes produced. Last year LNG trade posted a brisk 11.7% growth to 211 bcm, far more than the 7.7%/year average increase achieved over the past decade. Growth was fueled by higher volumes sold to Asia and
LNG activity is, indeed, booming, noted Cedigaz. Operators are building new infrastructure to meet anticipated demand growth. Nonetheless, there were contrasted trends according to regions. Start-up of the receiving terminals in
In Europe and
Consumption restraints
High gas prices boosted competition from coal and other energies and stimulated energy conservation and policies encouraging renewables. These, together with mild climate conditions, had a significant impact on the gas market in OECD countries, especially in
In the
Sustained economic growth and growing gas needs to cover demand from local markets (in particular power generation) explain the significant consumption increase outside most of the OECD region. In Latin America 127 bcm were consumed, in Africa 87.3 bcm, in the
PIN/OGJ.COM
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