Home / Press review / Archive / Magazine / Current / The Gas dispute / Facts

Distribution of natural gas reserves

In the last 20 years the absolute natural gas reserves have increased enormously. The Middle East, Europe and Eurasia have access to the largest shares of global natural gas reserves, but as with oil, the decrease in the development of new gas fields stands in discrepancy to the increased energy demand.

» zoom

Facts

The proved natural gas reserves worldwide have risen from 96.4 trillion cubic metres (tcm) in 1984, to 142.9 tcm in 1994 and 179.5 tcm in 2004. In 2004 by far the greatest proportion of the world's natural gas reserves were owned by the Middle East (40.6%), and Europe and Eurasia (37.5%). While the Asian-Pacific region and Africa had close to 8% of the reserves, North America, Middle and South America each had only about 4%.

As with oil, the increase of the total gas reserves in the past can not disguise the fact that the decline in the development of new gas fields stands opposed to increasing energy demands. The point at which the amount of gas recovered is greater than the increase in reserves is therefore also drawing closer as far as natural gas is concerned. In the long term natural gas cannot compensate for the finiteness of oil.

According to estimates made by the BP energy company, the gap between the development of the reserve supply of natural gas and increased consumption is no longer particularly large: it increased by a mere 0.83 tcm from 2004-2005, whereas yearly consumption in 2004 amounted to around 2.75 tcm.

According to BP's calculations of natural gas reserves as related to annual production, it will only take 65.1 years to use up the natural gas reserves completely if conditions remain otherwise constant. In 1981 it was almost 60 years, and by 2001 the development of gas fields had caused this to increase to 70 years.
If each region were only able to utilise its own reserves, all of North America would have less than 10 years time until it would have to make do without gas; Europe and Eurasia would lie a little below the world average. Only the gas-rich Middle East could continue to use the same amount of natural gas for almost 250 years from their reserves.

As with oil, critical voices point out that the numbers from the energy companies, from which it is already clear that the natural gas reserves are limited, can be seen as too optimistic. This is primarily due to the fact that amount of the reserves has a positive effect on the balance sheet, and therefore on the stock market value of the company - when in doubt, the temptation to assume larger reserves is strong.
It is also assumed that the countries producing natural gas have an interest in large reserves in order to slow down the development of alternative energies. As is the case with oil, there's a lack of objective data relating to natural gas, as the available information is coloured by economic and environmental interests.

Data sources

British Petroleum (BP): Statistical Review of World Energy 2005

Terminology, notes on method or reading aids

Natural gas reserves are to be distinguished from natural gas resources. The term natural gas resources refers to all accumulations of natural gas, irrespective of whether production is possible or whether they have even been discovered. Only those natural gas resources which are judged recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions are referred to as natural gas reserves.

Distribution of proved natural gas reserves

In absolute numbers and percentage of shares
1984, 1994 and 2004

*Any variations due to rounding-off

Further articles on the subject » Energy, » Russia, » Europe, » Ukraine
More from the press review on the subject » Energy, » Russia, » Europe, » Ukraine