Which country produced the most natural gas last year?
According to the Energy Institute’s (EI) first annual statistical review of world energy, the answer to that question is the United States.
The United States produced 978.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year, a 3.6 percent year-over-year increase and 24.2 percent of global natural gas production in 2022, the review found of IS. Between 2012 and 2022, US natural gas production has grown by 4.2 percent year-on-year, the review revealed.
Russia ranked second in 2022 in terms of natural gas production, according to the IS review, which showed the country produced 618.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas. This figure marked an 11.9% year-on-year drop in production and 15.3% of the global total last year, EI said. From 2012 to 2022, Russian natural gas production has grown by 0.3 percent year-on-year, according to the review.
Iran was the country with the third-highest natural gas production figure last year, the review showed. The country produced 259.4 billion cubic meters in 2022, which was 1.1 percent more than in 2021 and 6.4 percent of total global natural gas production last year, according to the review of the ‘EI, which revealed that from 2012 to 2022, Iran’s natural gas production has taken place. grew by 5.2% year-on-year.
Total natural gas production in 2022 was 4.043 trillion cubic meters, down 0.2 percent from last year, the EI review noted. Global natural gas production grew by 2.0 percent year-on-year from 2012 to 2022, according to the review.
Of the total 2022 natural gas production figure, 1.589 trillion cubic meters comes from OECD countries, while the remaining 2.454 trillion cubic meters comes from non-OECD countries, the review revealed.
Demand for natural gas
In addition to being the top producer of natural gas last year, the US had the largest natural gas consumption rate in 2022, according to the review, which noted that this figure was 881.2 billion cubic meters.
This figure was 5.4 percent higher than the country’s natural gas consumption in 2021 and 22.4 percent of the total global natural gas consumption last year, EI noted. Between 2012 and 2022, demand for natural gas in the US has increased by 2.5 percent year-on-year, the review showed.
Russia had the second-highest natural gas consumption rate in 2022, at 408 billion cubic meters, down 14% from 2021 and 10.4% of total natural gas consumption in 2022, according to the review of the EI The country’s natural gas demand has declined by 0.5 percent year-on-year from 2012 to 2022, the review notes.
The country with the third highest natural gas consumption rate in the review is China, which was shown to consume 375.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2022. This figure was 1.2 percent less than last year and 9.5 percent of 2022. total natural gas demand, the review revealed. From 2012 to 2022, China’s natural gas demand has grown 9.6 percent year-on-year, according to the review.
Total natural gas consumption was 3.941 trillion cubic meters in 2022, down 3.1 percent from 2021 figures, the review said. Global demand for natural gas has increased by 1.7 percent year-on-year between 2012 and 2022, the review showed.
Non-OECD countries provided 2.144 trillion cubic meters of demand, while OECD countries accounted for the remaining 1.794 trillion cubic meters, the review noted.
Record natural gas prices
In a statement accompanying the review, which was published on the EI site earlier this year, the EI said that natural gas prices would reach record levels in Europe and Asia by 2022, “nearly three times in Europe (TTF averaging $37/mmBtu) and doubling in the local Asian LNG market (JKM averaging $34/mmBtu)”.
“US Henry Hub prices rose more than 50 percent to an average of $6.5/mmBtu in 2022, their highest annual level since 2008,” the statement added.
The statement also noted that global demand for natural gas declined by three percent in 2022 “falling just below the four trillion cubic meters achieved for the first time in 2021.”
“Its share in primary energy in 2022 decreased slightly to 24% (from 25% in 2021),” the statement said.
“Global gas production remained relatively flat compared to 2021,” the statement added.
In its latest short-term energy forecast, which was released last week, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) noted that the Henry Hub spot price averaged $6.42/mmBtu in 2022.
In this STEO, EIA projected the Henry Hub spot price to average $2.58/mmBtu in 2023 and $3.24/mmBtu in 2024.
The EIA projected the Henry Hub spot price to average $2.58/mmBtu in 2023 and $3.22/mmBtu in 2024 in its previous August STEO.
To contact the author, please send an email andreas.exarcheas@rigzone.com
