Supply
Another factor in favour of natural gas is its relative
abundance. The IGU is currently conducting a special
project on global energy scenarios. The study intends
to show that natural gas reserves will be available
for more than 100 years, as most recent forecasts
suggest. The final results will be presented at the
World Gas Conference in Tokyo in June 2003.
The development of new technology has improved forecasts.
Geologists are now discovering natural gas at deeper
levels than previous exploration indicated, leading
to a greater understanding and certainty about natural
gas reserves that will be available in the future.
While the exact amount of natural gas reserves is
still not clear, reserve forecasts have been steadily
increasing as existing reserves are more extensively
explored. High prices for natural gas and strong demand
have made new development more economically feasible.
In the 1980 Survey of Energy Resources the proven
reserves of natural gas in the world were put at 70
trillion cubic metres. Some twenty years later, proven
reserves are over 150 trillion cubic metres
According to Enron Inc., the current annual investment
in new infrastructure for natural gas is approximately
US$ 25 billion. This is certainly a sign that the
market players expect growth in the natural gas sector
in the coming years.
An important part of the supply picture is, that out
of the 485 billion cubic metres of gas exported around
the world in 1999, approximately 25% or 124 billion
cubic metres was in the form of Liquefied Natural
Gas (LNG), 75 % of which is transported to Asia Pacific.
LNG is currently a booming business, but with the
growing energy demand – especially in Asia – this
will be a continuous upward trend, challenging the
gas industry and the IGU to develop cheaper and more
advanced LNG technology.
