Medium-Term Gas Market Report 2016
The context for global gas markets is changing rapidly, raising new challenges for
industry and policy makers alike. The slowdown in Asian gas demand that started in
2014 intensified in 2015, prompting a rare decline in the region’s LNG imports and
pushing prices to new lows. As the world prepares to welcome a large wave of new LNG
projects, market players are left with one burning question: where will all that gas
go?
Heavily oversupplied markets in the short term have triggered sharp investment cuts
across the industry; if under-investment persists it could sow the seeds of a classic
bust-boom commodity cycle. Unlike previous downturns, however, this time there is
greater uncertainty about future demand prospects.
Caught between cheap coal and continued policy support for renewables, global gas
demand has so far failed to react to the steep fall in prices. Industry participants
are now wondering whether this is temporary or whether it marks the beginning of structurally
lower growth for gas demand. How countries reassess environmental policies in the
aftermath of the Paris Agreement will be key to determining what comes next for gas.
The Medium-Term Gas Market Report
2016 assesses these trends and provides a detailed analysis of global demand supply
and trade development through 2021. It also explores the links between today’s oversupply
and emerging shifts in trade patterns, pricing mechanisms and market structures that
have the potential to substantially reshape the global gas industry over the next
few years.
Published on June 08, 2016
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