Eni presents the second volume of the World Oil, Gas and Renewables Review, the world statistical review that this year reached its seventeenth 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, biofuels and new renewable energy sources (wind and solar) that are acquiring an increasingly important role in the energy landscape by leading the transition to a less carbon intensive and more sustainable energy system.
In the 2017 the world gas reserves decreased slightly (-0,2%). Russia is confirmed as the main holder of gas reserves (holds 25% of global ones). Of the top ten countries for gas reserves, seven are from OPEC with 44% of world reserves.
World gas production increased by 3,6%, the highest increase since 2010. Boosted by new LNG plants, Australia's gas production has taken a big leap (+ 21%) and the country has become the eighth producer worldwide and the sixth exporter. The gas production of Russia, the second largest producer in the world, has increased significantly (+ 7,7%), but the United States remains the first world producer (their production increased by 0,7% in 2017). In Africa, Egypt outclassed Nigeria as the second largest African producer, after Algeria, with a strong 23% increase thanks to the start of production at the Zohr field. In Europe, production in Norway reached record levels with growth of 5,8%, more than offsetting the collapse of the Netherlands (-12,8%) caused by the reduction in production at the Groningen field.
In 2017, global gas demand recorded a significant increase (+ 3,3%) growing in all areas except America where consumption by the United States, the world's leading consumer country, decreased by 2,7%. The Asia-Pacific area led demand growth in 2017 with the strongest increase (+41 billion cubic meters, + 5,7%), especially due to the boom in China (+ 11,7%), where Battle for Blue Skies is encouraging a switch from coal to natural gas. China has become the third largest gas importer and second largest LNG importer. The demand for gas has grown substantially in many other Asian countries: Pakistan (+ 16.6%), Taiwan (+ 16,4%), Malaysia (+ 10,5%), Singapore (+ 5%) and South Korea (+4,6 , 4.9%). In Europe, demand continued to grow for the third consecutive year with a significant + 2012%, mainly for the electricity sector and climatic conditions, returning to XNUMX levels.
At the end of 2017, the installed capacity of solar and wind power (390 and 514 GW respectively) represented more than 40% of installed capacity of all renewable sources and about 13% of all energy sources. In the 2017, new photovoltaic installations have grown by about 30%, reaching the 92 GW record, driven by the drop in technology costs. The capacity of the wind increased by 46 GW, but compared to the 2016 the new installations were less than 9%. China is the leading country in terms of installed capacity in wind and solar (295 GW, equivalent to 33% of installed capacity worldwide). Europe in terms of new capacity (+ 24 GW) has surpassed North America (+ 15 GW), thanks largely to new wind installations.