Energy IEA calls for solidarity to secure gas supply
In view of a tight gas market, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has called for increased cooperation to secure global gas supplies.
21.01.2025, 07:23
SDA
Initiatives to improve market transparency, data exchange and cooperation mechanisms for gas and liquefied natural gas have already been launched in the past year, the IEA announced in its quarterly gas market report in Paris.
As demand continues to rise and supply is growing more slowly than before the coronavirus pandemic and the recent energy crisis, the global natural gas markets will remain tight in 2025. Although the suspension of Russian gas transit via Ukraine to Europe at the beginning of the year does not pose an immediate risk to the EU's security of supply, this could increase European import demand for liquefied natural gas and further exacerbate the market situation, according to the report.
Growth in Asia drives gas demand
Rapidly growing markets in Asia drove global demand for gas to a new high of 2.8 percent last year. At the same time, below-average growth in liquefied natural gas (LNG) production led to a shortage of supply, while extreme weather events put additional pressure on the market, the IEA explained.
This dynamic is likely to continue in 2025 before a number of new LNG export capacities, particularly in the USA and Qatar, come on stream in the second half of this decade.
Gas displaces oil
According to the Energy Agency, the growing economy in Asia will continue to be the driver of rising gas demand in 2025. In addition, natural gas will continue to replace oil and oil products in various sectors. In the Middle East, the switch from oil to gas in the electricity sector is continuing and in China, gas-powered trucks are increasingly replacing diesel vehicles. Increasing weather extremes are also increasing the role of gas in the security of electricity supply.
