New Delhi: India and China led the recovery in Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) demand following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Royal Dutch Shell’s annual LNG Outlook published today.
The company said in a statement that India increased imports by 11 per cent in 2020 as it took advantage of lower-priced LNG to supplement its domestic gas production. On the other hand China increased its LNG imports by 7 million tonnes to 67 million tonnes, an 11 per cent increase of the year, it added.
Shell in its report also found that Global LNG trade increased to 360 million tonnes in 2020 despite the unprecedented volatility caused by the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in lockdowns all over the world.
LNG provided flexible energy which the world needed during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating its resilience and ability to power people’s lives in these unprecedented times,” said Maarten Wetselaar, Integrated Gas, Renewables and Energy Solutions Director at Shell.
It noted that the increase in volume reflects the resilience and flexibility of the global LNG market in 2020, a year which saw losses to global GDP of several trillion dollars as economies struggled to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. Demand in 2019 was 358 million tonnes.
“Overall, global LNG demand is estimated to hit 700 million tonnes by 2040. Asia is expected to drive nearly 75 percent of this growth as domestic gas production declines and LNG substitutes higher emission energy sources,” the company added.
The company reiterated that the demand for LNG is only going to increase henceforth as world over, economies are switching to carbon neutrality in the next few years.
China’s announcement of a target to become carbon neutral by 2060 is expected to continue driving up the LNG demand.
Similarly, two other major Asian LNG importing countries- Japan and South Korea also announced net zero emissions targets in 2020.
“As demand grows, a supply demand-gap is expected to open in the middle of the current decade with less new production coming on stream than previously projected,” it added.
As per the estimates, more than half of the future LNG demand will come from countries with net zero emission targets.
EnergyWorld
