Gas Exporters Opec, IEA, IEF Hold Yearly Meet

Representatives from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Energy Forum (IEF), Opec and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) met online for a discussion of the effects of Covid-19 pandemic, said GECF in a statement later that day. The February 17 meeting was the eleventh such event and the third for the GECF.

“The pandemic’s impact on energy demand is unparalleled in the history of energy markets,” said IEF secretary-general and host of the event Joseph McMonigle. “The symposium explored what government policies and industry responses are necessary to safeguard the long-term stability of energy markets.”

GECF secretary-general Yuri Sentyurin said oil and gas will dominate global energy markets  for the "foreseeable future. Natural gas will even increase its share from 23% today to 28% in 2050." That year has been set as a target to aim at for carbon neutrality.

The GECF's forthcoming Global Gas Outlook 2050, due out late this month, forecasts global primary energy demand to expand by 24% by 2050. This is based on the revised GDP growth expectations related to Covid-19 economic contractions. Sentyurin said the market should not discriminate against gas if there were to be "sufficient investments through the entire gas value-chain and the necessity for equitable risk-sharing among all gas market stakeholders to sustain the security of demand and natural gas supply.”

There have been fears of a gas supply crunch in a few years owing to the lack of final investment decisions (FIDs) in new field developments and liquefaction terminals last year. Only one FID was taken in 2020 and that was a relatively small LNG project.

Hosted by the IEF, the symposium reviewed the IEA’s, Opec’s, and GECF’s short-, medium- and long-term outlooks, which are analysed in the newly released IEF-RFF Outlooks Comparison Report. Produced by the IEF and Resources For the Future (RFF), the report highlights a reset in energy outlooks after the biggest demand shock in history.

India's energy minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that producers and consumers should find a compromise. “The price-sensitive Indian consumers are affected by rising petroleum product prices. It also affects demand growth, which could potentially impact the delicate aspirational economic growth trajectory not just in India but in other developing countries as well.”

A wide-ranging NGW interview with Yuri Sentyurin, conducted in December, may be read here.