Statistics indicate that the world's natural gas demand will grow 50% by 2040, a senior official from the Gas Exporting Countries Forum said.
"This means that natural gas will play a key role in meeting future energy requirements and ensuring continued energy security," Ali Amirani, the head of GECF's office in Doha, Qatar, said.
He made the statement in the opening ceremony of the First Iran International Gas Show (IRGS 2018) held in Tehran on Saturday, IRGS's website reported.
"The GECF forecasts global natural gas demand to grow at an annual average rate of 1.8%, which will reach an overall increase of 50%, by 2040," he said.
"In other words, the demand of 3.71 trillion cubic meters in 2017 will very likely reach 5.58 tcm in 2040."
The official added that fossil fuels are expected to meet 75% of global energy demand by 2040, of which natural gas will register the largest growth.
"The share of gas in the overall energy mix will increase from 22% in 2017 to 27.6% in 2040," he said, adding that the share of coal in the mix will consequently decline from 27% to 21% in the period.
Amirani described the acceleration of natural gas use in the power generation sector worldwide and efforts to fight air pollution caused by coal as the main reasons behind the strategic fuel's attraction.
"Average GDP per capita of the world is forecast to grow 80% by 2040, as the global population increases by 1.7 billion. This will increase energy demand through increased consumption of industrial goods, larger car fleets and more residential housing," he said.
Iran Prospect
The official said Iran has managed to use its giant gas reserves to fulfill domestic energy needs in the past decades, although it has neglected efforts to boost natural gas export.
Amirani noted that Iran needs to attract more investment in its gas industry so it can maintain its current share in the global gas trade, let alone expanding its market share.
"Countries need to make new investment to continue their production at the current level and increase it. If they cannot make new investment, the global gas industry will be hurt," he said, adding that Iran could face the same fate if it fails to draw adequate investment.
Gas pricing is one of the other challenges of the industry, while geopolitical issues are affected, as it will cause countries that hold gas reserves and producers to suffer from increased tensions in investment.
According to Amirani, while Iran's share of oil exports is 55% of its production, gas export still revolves around the meager 5% of total output.
Iran produces 850 million cubic meters of gas per day, which is planned to reach 1.2 billion cm/d by 2022.
The country owns about 18% of the world’s gas reserves and its production accounts for over 5% of the global figure.
The four-day IRGS 2018, with a focus on "domestic capabilities, technology indigenization and the future of gas industry", is hosting 70 local and foreign firms covering the whole chain of gas sector.
The firms are active in the fields of natural gas exploration, production, transportation, storage, marketing and other related services, and provide professional solutions to upstream and downstream projects. Senior executives from German gas and energy companies are scheduled to visit the exhibition.
The event offers a tremendous opportunity to attract more foreign players to the lucrative sector.
