Global gas demand rises but coal is still king

An International Energy Agency report says that rising consumption and low prices will drive this boost

Global gas demand will increase by almost 16% over the next five years but coal will remain the fastest growing energy market in the short-term, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.   The agency's Medium-Term Gas Market Report, released in June, sees total gas demand rising by 2.4% per year from 2012 to reach 3.9 trillion cubic metres (cm) by 2018. Total gas demand in 2012 was 3.4 trillion cm in 2012, it said. Coal demand will, however, outpace natural gas, rising by 2.6% per year between now and 2018. Demand for oil will rise by just 0.7% per year in the period, the IEA said. Global coal and oil consumption totalled 3.8 billion tonnes of oil equivalent and 89.8 million barrels a day