San Donato Milanese (Milan), 8 November 2019 – Eni has released the second volume of the World Oil, Gas and Renewables Review, the annual statistics report arrived at the 18th edition. The volume follows the first published in July focused on the oil market and the refining industry. It provides data and statistics on natural gas, modern renewable energy sources (solar and wind) and biofuels.
In 2018, world gas reserves increased slightly (+0.6%). Russia remains the top holder of gas reserves with 24% of the world's total. Seven OPEC countries are in the top ten with 47% of the world's total.
World gas production confirms the growth trend, which began in 2010 and accelerated over the last two years (>3% in 2017-2018 vs +1.6% in 2015-2016). USA and Australia gas production grew more than 10%, thanks mainly to the start-up of new LNG plants: in 2018 the two countries became the fourth and fifth exporting country in the world respectively (the third and the second exporting country considering LNG alone). Gas production in Russia, the world's second largest producer after USA, slowed (-0.6%), but exports reached record levels. In Europe, production recorded a drop of -5.3%, with all the major producing countries presenting a decrease (Netherlands -16% for production caps increasingly stringent on Groningen, UK -3.2% and Norway -2.5%). In Africa, Egypt continues to grow at high rates (+ 12%), thanks to the Zohr ramp-up, more than compensating the decrease in Algeria and Nigeria.
Global gas demand has increased significantly (+4.6%), recording the highest increase since 2010 and growing in all areas except in Europe (-1.7%). Asia-Pacific area led demand growth also in 2018 (+6.3%), thanks to China (around +15%), the world's third largest consumer of gas and the first importer in 2018. Gas demand has also increased in Singapore (+22%), Pakistan (+20%), South Korea (+12%), Malaysia (+5%) and India (+5%), while it has registered a decline in Japan (-3.8%) which fell to third position among importers of gas, overtaken by China and Germany. Due to the harsh climate, a significant increase in the demand has been registered also in the United States (+9.5%), which is confirmed as the first country for gas consumption in the world.
At the end of 2018, solar and wind installed generation capacity (486 and 564 GW respectively) accounted for more than 40% of all renewables and about 15% of all power sources. In 2018, solar photovoltaic capacity additions grew by about 25%, reaching a record of 94 GW, driven by declining cost of technology. Wind capacity increased by 49 GW, but additions fell by 3% vs 2016. China is keeping the leadership in terms of solar and wind installed capacity (360 GW, 34% of the world total solar and wind capacity), although at a slower rate growth (+22% vs 30% in 2016 and 2017).
The publication is available on eni.com on the World Gas and Renewables Review 2019 page.
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