- Nigeria, Two Others Drive World Gas Reserves Higher
World gas reserves increased by 0.9 per cent last year, driven by the United States, Nigeria and Iraq, according to the newly released World Oil and Gas Review by Italian oil major, Eni.
The report, which was released on Wednesday, said Russia remained the top holder of gas reserves (with 25 per cent of the world’s total).
It said world gas production increased by 0.7 per cent, driven mainly by new Australian LNG plants.
Nigeria was ranked ninth among the world top 10 gas reserves holders, with 5.475tn cubic metres as of December 31, 2016, up from 5.284tn cubic metres in 2015.
The report said, “In the US, the world’s largest producer of natural gas, production slightly declined (-3.2 per cent), after a 10-year of growth driven by the shale gas boom. In Europe, Norway’s production was almost flat after a strong jump in 2015, while output continued to decline in the European Union (-3 per cent). In Russia, the world’s second gas producer, output resumed growth after the decline registered last year.
“World gas demand recorded robust growth in 2016 (+2 per cent), thanks to a strong recovery in Europe (+5.4 per cent), mainly due to the power sector and weather conditions, and in the Asia-Pacific region (+5.1 per cent), led by strong demand in China (+8.6 per cent). Gas demand also rose substantially in India and South Korea; the UK, Germany, Italy and France reported the highest increases in Europe.”
The report also showed that at the end of 2016, installed solar and wind capacity (296 and 467 gigawatts, respectively) accounted for almost 40 per cent of the total installed renewable power capacity (about 15 per cent of all power sources).
It said, “China leads the market for solar and wind with an installed capacity of 226GW (30 per cent of the world total).
“In 2016, solar photovoltaic capacity additions grew by 50 per cent, compared to 2015, reaching a record 71GW, driven by declining cost of technology. Wind capacity increased by 51GW, but additions fell by 21 per cent vs 2015. Total new installations were concentrated in China (44 per cent). North America (+21GW), thanks to new photovoltaic installations, slightly overtook Europe (+19 GW), where wind led the growth.”
According to the report, the contribution of modern renewables to power generation remains lower than their contribution to capacity due to the current low average capacity factors (below 25 per cent for wind and 15 per cent for solar).
