The Middle East, with 80.3 trillion cu/m, is home to 43.2 percent of the total natural gas deposit in the world, according to a new report.
A BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2014 report said Qatar currently contains the highest deposit of natural gas with 24.7 trillion cu/m with Saudi Arabia next in line containing 8.2 trillion cu/m in the region.
Bob Dudley, group chief executive of BP, said “the data in this review shows a flexible global energy system adapting to a changing world. It demonstrates how the world’s quest for secure and fairly-priced energy can be met through competitive industries driving innovation and smart government policies that amplify the creative energy.”
The proven natural gas reserves by the end of 2013 stood at 185.7 trillion cu/m, 0.2 percent higher than the previous year, the BP data added.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has, however, stated that the demand for natural gas will exceed its production from Middle East countries by the year 2019.
The available figures indicate an increase in demand from 426bn cu/m in 2002 to around 535bn cu/m in 2019, thus recording a 109bn cu/m increase or 26 percent rise.
Estimates also indicate that gas production will increase from 582bn cu/m in 2013 to only around 658bn cu/m through the end of this decade. Another report said that the main reasons behind the increase in the use of gas in the energy sector stem from economic factors such as the price of gas being lower than that of oil and environmental factors such as less pollution.
The report also added that the regional power consumption is increasing rapidly — the rise is estimated at five percent to six percent yearly in some countries in the region compared with two percent to four percent in other countries.
The global reserves of conventional natural gas are estimated at about 176 T.m3 (trillion m3) at the end of 2004.
SG/Agencies
30 July
