Eni presents the second volume of the World Oil, Gas and Renewables Review, the global statistical review that this year has reached its eighteenth edition. The volume, which follows the first published in July and focused on the oil market and the refining industry, provides data and statistics on natural gas, modern renewable energy sources (solar and wind) and on biofuels.
In the 2018 the world gas reserves have increased slightly (+ 0,6%). Russia, with the 24% of world reserves, is confirmed as the main holder of gas reserves. Seven OPEC countries rank among the top ten holders of gas reserves, with 47% of world reserves.
World gas production confirms the growth trend that began in 2010 and accelerated in the last two years (> 3% in 2017-2018 vs 1,6% in 2015-2016). Production in the USA and Australia grew by more than 10%, mainly thanks to the entry into operation of new LNG plants: in 2018 the two countries became respectively the fourth and fifth exporting country in the world (the third and second relatively to LNG exports). Gas production in Russia, the second largest producer in the world after the United States, slowed down (-0,6%), while exports reached record levels. In Europe, production recorded a decline of 5,3%, with all the major producing countries contracting (Netherlands -16% due to increasingly stringent production ceilings on Groningen, UK -3,2% and Norway -2,5 %). In Africa, Egypt continues to grow at high rates (+ 12%), thanks to the ramp-up of Zohr, and more than compensates for the reduction in production in Algeria and Nigeria.
Global gas demand has increased significantly (+ 4,6%), the highest increase since 2010, growing in all areas except Europe (-1,7%). The Asia-Pacific area has driven demand growth also in 2018 (+ 6,3%), thanks above all to China (around + 15%), the third largest consumer of gas in the world and, from 2018, the first importer. The demand for gas has also increased in Singapore (+ 22%), in Pakistan (+ 20%), in South Korea (+ 12%), in Malaysia (+ 5%) and in India (+ 5%), while it has there was a decline in Japan (-3,8%), a country that fell into third place among global gas importers, surpassed by China and Germany. Big leap in demand, caused by the harsh climate, even in the United States (+ 9,5%), which are confirmed as the first global consumers of gas.
At the end of the 2018 the installed capacity of solar and wind power (respectively 486 and 564 GW) represented more than 40% of the installed capacity of all renewable sources and about 15% of all energy sources. In the 2018, new photovoltaic installations have grown by around 25%, reaching the record of 94 GW, driven by the fall in technology costs. Wind capacity has increased by 49 GW, but compared to the 2016, new installations have been lower than 3%. China confirms itself as the leading country for installed capacity in solar and wind power (360 GW, equal to 34% of the worldwide installed capacity of these two sources), although it has slowed down its growth (+ 22% vs + 30% recorded in the two previous years).
The publication is available on eni.com on the World Gas and Renewables Review 2019 page.