Did you know that the world’s top 10 producers of natural gas account for about 73% of total production, and that the Asia Pacific region is expected to be the main drivers of global gas consumption in the coming years?

Natural gas is part of nearly every aspect of our daily lives. It is used for heating, cooking, electricity generation, as fuel for motor vehicles, in fertilizers, and in the manufacture of plastics. The fuel is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas and non-renewable fossil fuel that forms below the Earth’s surface.

Although the Earth has enormous quantities of natural gas, much of it is in areas far from where the fuel is needed. To facilitate transport and reduce volume, natural gas is frequently converted into liquefied natural gas (LNG), in a process called liquefaction.

Despite global efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, natural gas consumption reached a new all-time high in 2021, surpassing the previous record set in 2019 by 3.3%. Demand is expected to decline slightly in 2022 and remain subdued up to 2025, according to the International Energy Agency, IEA.

Below are the regions that produce the highest natural gas in 2021 as listed according to region, demand in Billion Cubic Meters (bcm), 2022P (bcm) and 2025P (bcm)

Africa 169, 172, 188
Asia Pacific 895, 907, 990
Central and South America 153, 147, 153
Eurasia 634, 619, 632
Europe 604, 549, 536
Middle East 564, 582, 627
North America 1,084; 1,108; 1,116
World 4,103; 4,083; 4,243

The Asia Pacific region and the industrial sector are expected to be the main drivers of global gas consumption in the coming years

The world’s top 10 producers of natural gas account for about 73% of total production according to Rank, Country, 2021 Production (bcm) and Share %:

#1 🇺🇸 United States 934.2, 23.1%
#2 🇷🇺 Russia 701.7, 17.4%
#3 🇮🇷 Iran 256.7, 6.4%
#4 🇨🇳 China 209.2, 5.2%
#5 🇶🇦 Qatar 177.0 ,4.4%
#6 🇨🇦 Canada 172.3, 4.3%
#7 🇦🇺 Australia 147.2, 3.6%
#8 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 117.3, 2.9%
#9 🇳🇴 Norway 114.3, 2.8%
#10 🇩🇿 Algeria 100.8, 2.5%
🌐 Global Total 4,036.9, 100.0%

Natural gas accounts for 32% of primary energy consumption in the United States, the world’s largest producer. Russia is the second biggest producer, and also has at least 37 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, the most in the world. China’s natural gas production grew by 7.8% in 2021, and it has nearly doubled since 2011. This sustained growth in production is partly down to government policies incentivizing coal-to-gas switching.

Image Credit: TheGuardianNigeria

Source:
Read the full report from the article: Which Countries Produce the Most Natural Gas? By Bruno Venditti https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/largest-producers-of-natural-gas/

NB: This report was first published in 2022 on PENGlobal Facebook page.

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