Cautious optimism for winter gas demand

Two forecasters predict that requirements for the fuel could be higher going forward, albeit with caveats

The IEA still expects 2020 gas demand to record a significant year-on-year drop, but not to the extent it previously feared. And analysts at data firm Refinitiv also believe that this northern hemisphere winter’s demand could be better than in 2019-20, which was ravaged by warmer-than-normal temperatures and the emergence of Covid-19. In its Global Gas Security Review 2020, the IEA revisits its June forecast, which projected a 4pc fall for global gas demand this year, and revises it up to just a 3pc drop. The more bullish number comes from estimates, based on a sample of countries and territories accounting for over 85pc of global gas demand, that the first six months of 2020—the worst affec