The strongest growth in natural gas consumption is projected for the countries of non-OECD Asia, where economic growth leads to increased demand, says the IEO2016.
Natural gas consumption in the non-OECD region grows by an average of 2.5 percent per year from 2012 to 2040, compared with 1.1 percent per year in the OECD countries. As a result, non-OECD countries account for 76 percent of the total world increment in natural gas consumption, and their share of world natural gas use grows from 52 percent in 2012 to 62 percent in 2040.
Abundant natural gas resources and robust production contribute to the strong competitive position of natural gas among other resources, according to the EIA. Natural gas remains a key fuel in the electric power sector and in the industrial sector. In the power sector, natural gas is an attractive choice for new generating plants because of its fuel efficiency. The IEO2016 says that natural gas also burns cleaner than coal or petroleum products, and as more governments begin implementing national or regional plans to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, they may encourage the use of natural gas to displace more carbon-intensive coal and liquid fuels.
World consumption of natural gas for industrial uses increases by an average of 1.7 percent per year, and natural gas consumption in the electric power sector increases by 2.2 percent per year, from 2012 to 2040 in the IEO2016 Reference case. The industrial and electric power sectors together account for 73 percent of the total increase in world natural gas consumption, and they account for about 74 percent of total natural gas consumption through 2040.
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