據世界天然氣5月11日報道，法國天然氣研究中心(Cedigaz)發布其2020年首次預測，2019年，在供過于求的背景下，全球經濟增長放緩和冬季的溫和天氣等因素導致全球天然氣需求增長放緩，造成液化天然氣過剩，價格大幅下降。天然氣需求增速已從2018年的5%放緩至2019年的2.3%，回復到本世紀初以來的年均增速。主要是因為電力和工業部門能源需求從煤炭和石油轉向天然氣，這是由天然氣較強勁的競爭力所推動的，得益于日益豐富的低成本供應，美國和歐洲的情況尤其如此。因此，天然氣仍然是能源需求增長的主要受益行業，其在能源結構中的份額進一步擴大。

2019年，全球天然氣消費量達到39480億立方米，比2018年增長2.3%。與2018年一樣，美國和中國是兩大增長中心，分別占全球增長的31%和27%。不過，在經濟增長放緩的背景下，這兩個市場的天然氣需求擴張速度較前幾年有所放緩。這一放緩也是天氣因素以及放寬煤轉氣政策的結果。歐洲聯盟(增長2.4%)、大洋洲(澳大利亞、印度)、北非(阿爾及利亞)、中東和經合組織美洲地區(加拿大、智利)的需求也很強勁。相反，獨聯體(俄羅斯、烏克蘭)的天然氣需求下降，主要是受到冬季溫和氣候的影響。

2019年，全球市場天然氣產量實現了快速增長，增幅達3.5%，至40010億立方米，年增長量為1360億立方米。全球天然氣供應增長的近40%用于液化天然氣出口，其余部分用于國內消費。僅美國就占全球增長的三分之二左右。美國干氣產量的增長(+10%)部分是由油田伴生氣的增長和新的天然氣管道容量推動的。澳大利亞、中國、俄羅斯和埃及也提供了顯著的增長。相反，歐洲天然氣產量(包括挪威)下降了7%，導致對外依存度增加。

2019年，國際天然氣貿易(凈流量)強勁增長3.8%，至9920億立方米。這一增長只能歸因于液化天然氣供應的激增(+ 12.6%)，，這抵消了管道流量的大幅減少（-4.3%）。這一發展反映出，相對于管道天然氣，具有高度競爭力的液化天然氣供應日益豐富，尤其歐盟吸收了大部分額外的全球液化天然氣供應(全球525億立方米的增量中的500億立方米)，成為了一個維持液化天然氣業務平衡的市場。

美國天然氣產量繼續以比需求快得多的速度增長，從而創造了大量的出口順差。2019年，美國進入全球十大天然氣出口國行列，成為全球第五大天然氣出口國。

隨著全球供應能力增長超過需求增長，天然氣現貨價格在2019年突然下跌，導致大量庫存注入。與2018年相比，亞洲和歐洲市場的現貨價格下跌了40%以上，導致油價與現貨價格脫鉤。新的定價和交易模式重塑了日益依賴現貨價格和靈活的天然氣供應的全球天然氣市場。

王佳晶 摘譯自 世界天然氣

原文如下：

NATURAL GAS DEMAND GROWTH MODERATED BUT REMAINED STRONG - CEDIGAZ

CEDIGAZ, the International Association for Natural Gas, has just released its ? First Estimates 2020”. In 2019, slower economic growth, Chinese policy changes and a mild winter caused global gas demand growth to slow in a context of oversupply, resulting in a growing LNG surplus and much lower prices. The growth in natural gas demand has slowed down from 5% in 2018 to 2.3% in 2019, returning to the average annual growth rate observed since the start of the century. The main factor behind growth was the switching from coal and oil to natural gas in the power and industry sectors, which was prompted by the competitiveness of natural gas thanks to a growing abundant low-cost supply. This was notably the case in the United States and Europe. Thus, natural gas has remained the main beneficiary of the energy demand growth, to the detriment of coal in particular, causing its share in the energy mix to expand further.

Global natural gas consumption reached 3948 bcm in 2019, a 2.3% growth from 2018, Like in 2018, the US and China were the two main growth centres, accounting for respectively 31% and 27% of the global increase. However, the expansion of natural gas demand in these two markets slowed down compared to the previous years in a context of weakening economic growth. This slowdown also resulted from weather factors as well as the relaxation of policy on coal-to-gas switching. Demand was also strong in the European Union (+ 2.4%), Asia-Oceania (Australia, India), North Africa (Algeria), the Middle East (Iran) and OECD Americas (Canada, Chile). Reversely, natural gas demand declined in the CIS (Russia, Ukraine), mainly as a result of a mild winter.

Global marketed gas production pursued its rapid expansion, up 3.5% to 4001 bcm in 2019, corresponding to an annual incremental volume of 136 bcm. Almost 40% of the global gas supply growth was dedicated to LNG exports, the remaining volume was consumed domestically. The US alone explained around two-thirds of the global increase. US dry gas production growth (+ 10%) was, in part, driven by a growth of associated gas from oil fields and by new gas pipeline capacity. Other significant increments were provided by Australia, China, Russia and Egypt. Reversely, European gas production (Norway included) fell by 7%, resulting in a growing external dependence.

International gas trade (net flows) grew at a robust rate of 3.8% to 992 bcm in 2019. This growth can be only attributed to the surge of LNG supply (+ 12.6%), which more than offset a significant reduction in pipeline flows (- 4.3%). This development reflects the growing abundance of highly competitive LNG supply which gained ground over pipeline gas, especially in the European Union, which absorbed most of the extra global LNG supply (50 bcm out of a global increment of 52.5 bcm), acting as a balancing market for the LNG business.

US gas production continued to increase at a much faster rate than consumption, thereby creating a large surplus destined for exports. In 2019, the US entered the rankings of the top-ten exporters to become the fifth largest natural gas exporter worldwide.

Spot gas prices fell abruptly in 2019 as global supply capacity growth outpaced demand growth, resulting in massive storage injections. Spot prices on the Asian and European markets plunged by more than 40% compared to 2018, resulting in a decoupling between oil-indexed and spot prices. New pricing and trading patterns reshape the global gas market which increasingly relies on spot-priced and flexible gas supply.