Statistical Review of World Energy 2021 | 70th edition
Natural gas consumption decreased by 2.3%, similar to the fall seen in 2009 during the financial crisis. Despite the reduction in absolute levels of gas demand, the share of gas in primary energy continued to rise, reaching a record high of 24.7%
World proved gas reserves decreased by 2.2 Tcm to 188.1 Tcm in 2020. A revision to Algeria (-2.1 Tcm) provided the largest decrease, partially offset by a 0.4 Tcm increase in Canadian reserves. Russia (37 Tcm), Iran (32 Tcm) and Qatar (25 Tcm) are the countries with the largest reserves.
The current global R/P ratio shows that gas reserves in 2020 accounted for 48.8 years of current production. The Middle East (110.4 years) and CIS (70.5 years) are the regions with the highest R/P ratio.
LNG supply grew by 4 bcm or 0.6%, well below the 10-year average rate of 6.8% p.a. US LNG supply expanded by 14 bcm (29%), but this was partially offset by declines in most other regions, notably Europe and Africa.
The European gas market is the largest market in which there is active gas-on-gas competition (between imports predominantly from Russia – competing against LNG imports – largely from the US as the marginal source of LNG). The European market also plays a key role as the balancing market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes.
