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As the world's premier forum for international economic co-operation, the G20 plays a critical role in helping to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Based on robust evidence and available data, this report examines how the G20's contributions to the global goals across key sectors are already making a difference, while also suggesting where it could go further in leading by example to support the global goals.

Collectively, G20 members account for around 85% of global gross domestic product, 75% of world trade and 80% of global carbon dioxide emissions – to name just a few areas of the G20's influence. This report, commissioned by the Government of Japan in support of its 2019 G20 Presidency, takes stock of the G20's progress to date against its Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The natural gas market is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Industry has overtaken the power sector as the driving force behind the growing use of gas, thanks to rising demand in places like the People’s Republic of China, developing Asia, the Middle East and the United States. At the same time, structural changes in gas supply and trade are changing the global gas market. Heavily oversupplied markets, the ongoing shale-gas revolution in the United States, the second wave of additional liquefaction capacity from Australia and the US, and the fast-growing LNG trade are disrupting traditional gas business and pricing models. This is forcing market players to redefine their strategies and explore new markets.

The IEA’s renamed Gas 2017 market report provides a detailed analysis of supply and trade developments, infrastructure investments, and demand-growth forecast through 2022. It assesses the main changes that will likely transform the gas market, led by rising demand in countries that include China, India, and Pakistan, thanks to ongoing economic growth and relatively low LNG prices. It also explores widening regional differences to traditional gas users, with flat demand forecast in Europe and structural demand decline in Japan.

Oversupplied markets will also keep pressure on prices and discourages new upstream investment in gas production and LNG liquefaction capacity. At the same time, market reforms in places like Egypt, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico have the potential to bring new investments and technologies to unlock vast domestic resources, creating new prospects for the gas industry.

The gas industry’s future remains bright. Three major shifts will shape the evolution of global natural gas markets in the next five years – growing imports from China, greater industrial demand, and rising production from the United States.

The structural shift will determine the evolution of the market at a time when growth in emerging markets is sustained by strong economic expansion and strong policy support to curb air pollution. Industry becomes a major player in gas markets, while the United States cements its position as a top producer and exporter thanks to its shale revolution.

Gas 2018, the latest IEA annual market report, assesses these trends and provides a detailed analysis of supply and trade developments, infrastructure investments, and demand-growth forecast through 2023.

The report analyses the main changes that will likely transform the natural gas market, including market reforms that shape supply and demand patterns in key Asian economies and developments in the LNG market – the main driver of interregional natural gas trade growth.

Natural gas demand grew at a remarkable clip last year, increasing by 4.6%, its highest growth rate since the beginning of the decade. Future growth will be more measured, supported by economic expansion in emerging markets – especially in Asia – and sustained policy support in the People’s Republic of China to battle air pollution.

The supplies to meet that new growth will come from both new domestic production in these fast-growing economies but also increasingly from major exporting countries, led by the development of the abundant shale gas resources in the United States. International trade, supported by the strong growth in liquefied natural gas export capacity, will play a growing role in the development of natural gas markets as they move further towards globalisation. The recent convergence in market prices in major regions provides an indication of this increasing integration. However, establishing market-driven pricing mechanisms in fast-growing countries remains a challenge – albeit one that is being addressed by pricing reforms in several leading emerging economies around the world.

2020 is on its way to experiencing the largest recorded demand shock in the history of global natural gas markets. The Covid-19 pandemic hit an already declining gas demand, faced with historically mild temperatures over the first months of the year. Gas consumption is expected to fall by 4% in 2020, under the successive impacts of lower heating demand from the warm winter, the implementation of lockdown measures in almost all countries and territories to slow the spread of the virus, and a lower level of activity caused by the Covid-19 induced macroeconomic crisis.

Faced with this unprecedented shock, natural gas markets are going through a strong supply and trade adjustments, resulting in historically low spot prices and high volatility. Natural gas demand is expected to progressively recover in 2021, however the Covid-19 crisis will have longer-lasting impacts on natural gas markets, as the main medium-term drivers are subject to high uncertainty.

This report provides a detailed analysis of recent natural gas market developments, assesses the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the short to medium terms and discusses the main drivers and uncertainties to future gas supply and demand to 2025.

This report systematically examines the key points for natural gas liberalisation and regulatory reform in Europe and the United States over the past decades. It addresses market design, third-party access, capacity allocation, trading centre formation, pipeline tariff setting, and regulatory measures. In addition, the report analyses the transition process itself and identifies the related measures that can help national markets become more openly competitive. Based on these international experiences, the report then looks at the current situation of natural gas liberalisation in the People’s Republic of China, focusing on the importance of designing a suitable framework for the natural gas market by using best-policy tools.

The central goal of this report is to allow policy makers in China to benefit from international experiences to effectively promote the current liberalisation, the success of which will also greatly influence the global industrial development of gas.

This report is the result of a project involving relevant Chinese, European, and United States institutions under the overall oversight of the International Energy Agency.

Global gas demand fell by an estimated 2.5% or 100 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2020 – its largest drop on record. Amid this slowdown, gas demand for power generation remained resilient owing to fuel switching, while the whole supply chain showed strong flexibility in adjusting to demand variations. Gas trade globalisation progressed with increasing liquidity, while prices experienced historical lows and extreme volatility. The Covid-19 crisis and a well-supplied market put investment on hold, whereas gas market reforms and clean gas policy initiatives gained momentum in major consuming markets.

2021 opens with price rallies in Asia and Europe as rising winter demand tightened supply, but the price spikes are not expected to last beyond the short-term cold snaps given that market fundamentals for 2021 remain fragile. Global gas demand is expected to recover its 2019 level but with uncertainties regarding the recovery trajectory of fast-growing markets compared with more mature regions. Sectoral demand, on the other hand, is subject to a variety of risk factors including fuel switching, slow industrial rebound or milder weather.

This new quarterly report offers a detailed analysis of recent developments in global gas markets and the near-term outlook, and includes an overview of the main market highlights for 2020.

Global natural gas consumption rebounded by 4.6% in 2021, more than double the decline seen in 2020. The strong demand growth in 2021 was driven by the economic recovery that followed the previous year’s lockdowns and by a succession of extreme weather events. Supply did not keep pace which, combined with unexpected outages, led to tight markets and steep price increases, putting the brakes on demand growth in the second half of 2021.

The year closed with record high spot prices in Europe and Asia, as natural gas supply remained very tight. The direction of short-term demand will depend on the weather during the rest of the northern hemisphere’s heating season. Assuming normal temperatures, growth of the natural gas market is expected to be slowed by higher gas prices and softer economic expansion, while supply tensions may ease as offline capacity gradually returns. The exceptionally high gas (and by extension electricity) prices are likely to have an impact beyond just northern markets and the current season, with some ripple effects in both mature and emerging gas importing markets already visible.

This new issue of the quarterly Gas Market Report includes an overview of the main market highlights for 2021, and an analysis of recent gas market developments with a forecast for 2022.

After a record drop in global demand of about 75 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2020, natural gas markets experienced significant supply-demand tensions in the initial months of 2021. Colder-than-expected temperatures and tighter supply led to price rallies and spikes, first in Northeast Asia in January and then in North America in February.

These winter storms provided some short-term support to natural gas demand, but market fundamentals for 2021 remain fragile. Global gas demand is expected to recover to its 2019 level, but with uncertainties regarding the recovery trajectory in fast-growing markets as compared to more mature regions, while sectoral demand is subject to a variety of risk factors including a slow rebound in economic activity and fuel switching.

This new quarterly report offers a detailed review of 2020’s gas supply and demand fundamentals and figures, an analysis of recent developments in global gas markets during the northern hemisphere’s heating season, and an updated near-term outlook for 2021.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered a major energy supply and security crisis that has sent commodity prices to new highs, with wider implications for the global economy.The conflict has put further considerable pressure on natural gas markets and raised uncertainty in the context of an already tight market. Europe has been at the epicentre of market tensions since the beginning of the heating season, resulting from the combination of lower than average underground storage inventory – principally from sites partly owned or controlled by Gazprom – and a sharp year-on-year drop in Russian pipeline supplies. Lower Russian supplies have largely been compensated by LNG, turning Europe into the premium market and drawing cargoes away from Asia Pacific and other regions. The resulting tight supply, high prices, and heightened market uncertainty have led to a downward revision in global gas consumption growth, which as a result is expected to turn negative for 2022.This new issue of the quarterly Gas Market Report features a detailed review of 2021’s gas supply and demand fundamentals, an analysis of recent developments in global gas markets during the northern hemisphere’s heating season, and an updated near-term outlook for 2022.

Pressure on the European and global gas markets has eased since the beginning of 2023 due to favourable weather conditions and timely policy actions. By the end of Q1 2023 European hub and Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices had fallen below their summer 2021 levels, albeit remaining well above their historic averages. The steep decline in natural gas demand reduced the need for storage withdrawals in Europe and the United States over the 2022/23 winter. As a result, storage sites closed the heating season1 with inventory levels standing well above their five-year average. This is expected to reduce injection demand during the summer of 2023, and potentially ease market fundamentals.

The improved outlook for gas markets in 2023 is no guarantee against future volatility and should not be a distraction from measures to mitigate potential risks. Global gas supply is set to remain tight in 2023 and the global balance is subject to an unusually wide range of uncertainties. These include adverse weather factors, such as a dry summer or a cold Q4, lower availability of LNG and the possibility of a further decline in Russian pipeline gas deliveries to the European Union.

This new issue of the quarterly Gas Market Report provides an overview of recent gas market developments during the 2022/23 heating season, with a forecast for 2023.

Natural gas markets started off the year with a strong rebound, supported by a combination of recovering economic activity in most markets along with a series of weather-related events – cold spells in Q1 followed by colder or drier than average temperatures in Q2. Rising demand in 2021 is expected to offset 2020’s decline and even grow further with an anticipated 3.6% annual increase.

Demand growth is, however, not expected to maintain this pace in the medium term, but rather to slow to an average 1.7% annual rate for the 2022-2024 period, equally driven by economic activity and fuel switching from coal and oil. This slower growth may still be too high to match a net-zero emissions path, which requires higher substitution rates and efficiency gains – especially in mature markets, where most of the switching potential from coal and oil to gas has already been realised.

This new quarterly report offers a medium-term forecast and analysis of global gas markets to 2024, as well as a review of recent developments in major regional gas markets during the first half of 2021.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated the tightening supply of natural gas underway since mid-2021, further pushing up prices for consumers and leading to fuel switching and demand destruction. It also casts longer-term uncertainty on market prospects for natural gas, especially in developing markets where it was to play a central role in energy transitions.

Natural gas demand is expected to decline in 2022 and remain subdued up to 2025. Europe’s surging pursuit of LNG to phase out Russian pipeline supply and limited global LNG export capacity additions raise the risk of prolonged tight markets. Faster development and implementation of clean energy transition policies, especially in mature gas markets, would ease price competition and help emerging markets access supplies that can contribute to short-term improvements in carbon intensity and air quality.

This new issue of the Gas Market Report offers a medium-term forecast and analysis of global gas markets to 2025, as well as a review of recent developments in major regional gas markets during the first half of 2022.

Winter 2021/22 opens with record high seasonal gas prices, as the combination of a strong recovery in demand, extreme weather events and unplanned supply outages have led to tighter markets. Such tensions are a reminder that security of supply remains a major topic for gas markets, only a year after a record drop in demand and oversupplied markets.

The succession of market events over the past year further illustrates the critical role flexibility plays in ensuring security and continuity of supply. Flexible liquefied natural gas trade – alongside other major components of the gas flexibility toolbox such as interconnectors and storage capacity – has been and remains instrumental to adjusting to sharp and unexpected demand swings (both up and down). Delivering flexible and yet secure supply is likely to become more complex for systems in transition as they switch to low-carbon gas to reach net zero emission objectives. Regulators should therefore adopt a prudent and scalable approach to market design to ensure security of supply in a transitioning gas system.

This new quarterly report includes a review of gas security in light of recent supply-related developments, and an analysis of short-term gas market evolution to 2022.

This year’s winter gas season opens with extreme natural gas price levels and volatility, caused by unprecedented uncertainty of supply as Russia steeply curtails its pipeline deliveries to Europe. The result is considerable market tension in alternative sources of supply. Security of supply has become a top priority in Europe and other importing regions as a total cut-off in Russian flows to Europe cannot be ruled out, creating further tensions and demand destruction for all competing LNG importers.

The gas crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has caused a series of market adjustments. European buyers have strongly increased their LNG procurement, resulting in market tightening and demand destruction in various importing regions. This has also had a visible impact on LNG contracting behaviours, with a return to more traditional features such as fixed-destination and longer-duration contracts. The European Union, whose member states are directly exposed to the threat of further supply cuts, has adopted a number of measures to enhance security of supply and market resilience ahead of the coming winter.

This quarterly report includes the IEA’s annual Global Gas Security Review and an analysis of short-term gas market evolution to 2023.

China will play a positive role in the global development of gas, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Executive Director, Maria Van der Hoeven has said in Beijing on 11 September, 2012 when launching a new IEA report: Gas Pricing and Regulation, China’s challenges and IEA experiences.

In line with its aim to meet growing energy demand while shifting away from coal, China has set an ambitious goal of doubling its use of natural gas from 2011 levels by 2015. Prospects are good for significant new supplies – both domestic and imported, conventional and unconventional – to come online in the medium-term, but notable challenges remain, particularly concerning gas pricing and the institutional and regulatory landscape.
 
While China’s circumstances are, in many respects unique, some current issues are similar to those a number of IEA countries have faced. This report highlights some key challenges China faces in its transition to greater reliance on natural gas, then explores in detail relevant experiences from IEA countries, particularly in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States as well as the European Union (EU). Preliminary suggestions about how lessons learned in other countries could be applied to China’s situation are offered as well.
 
The aim of this report is to provide stakeholders in China with a useful reference as they consider decisions about the evolution of the gas sector in their country.
 
The report is funded by the UK Strategic Programme Fund programme , and the EU delegation in Beijing and the World Bank have provided in-kind contributions. The project is supported by the Chinese government and co-implemented by China 5E.
 

Female scientists and engineers pioneered the nuclear and radiological fields, with leaders and innovators such as Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Lise Meitner, among many others, establishing the foundation of modern nuclear science and technology. Women continue to make vital contributions to the sector, but their visibility and overall numbers in the sector remain limited, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and leadership roles. The lack of diversity in the sector represents a loss of potential innovation and growth and a critical threat to the viability of the field.

This report features the first publicly available international data on gender balance in the nuclear sector. The data was collected from over 8 000 women in the nuclear workforce in 32 countries, as well as human resources data from 96 nuclear organisations in 17 countries. Based on the findings, a comprehensive, evidence-driven policy framework is proposed with practical recommendations.