Asia to lead gas demand recovery – IEA
Gas will be more resilient to the effects of Covid-19 than coal and oil but is “far from immune”, says the IEA, as it forecasts the largest-ever demand decline in 2020
Global demand for natural gas is forecast to fall by 4pc, or 150bn m³, in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and “an exceptionally mild winter”, according to the IEA’s five-year gas market forecast, released today. Three-quarters of this slump will be in the mature markets of Europe, North America, and Asia and Eurasia. Demand is expected to bounce back in 2021 and 2022—led by policy-driven growth in China and India—but it will not be a return to business as usual, according to the IEA’s executive director, Fatih Birol. The agency expects the Covid-19 crisis to result in 75bn m³/yr of lost demand by 2025 compared with pre-pandemic forecasts. “The Covid-19 crisis will have a lasting impact
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