GLOBAL GAS AWARDS & SUMMIT

2020 and 2021 have gone in to history as pandemic years and the global energy markets had gone through one of the toughest phases in the history. The roller coaster ride in the oil industry and emergence of US in oil and LNG markets has indeed changed the market dynamics during 2015 to 2020 and softened the prices. Covid Pandemic further impacted the market recovery across nations. Recovering from the first wave of Covid in 2020 with resilient performance in that year, gas markets in 2021 saw persistent supply constraints and fast recovering demand, which pushed up the LNG prices during most part of the year and highlighted the inter-dependence and vulnerability of energy supply chains. Further, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has impacted the supply of gas to Europe and forced European nations to seriously look at alternative sources. This persistence of this situation during 2022, has further exacerbated the gas price volatility and the global gas / LNG prices have sustained at unprecedented higher levels, during 2022. There are major strategic challenges facing many gas /LNG buyers under this scenario as many LNG importers may not be able to survive at such a pricing scenario.

In this context, the global natural gas industry faces risks and opportunities across its entire value chain in the transition to net-zero emissions. Yet changing energy mix in major markets is a complex and long-term process and hence the industry sees a medium and long-term role for natural gas in the world’s energy mix. In the longer term, natural gas can be a driver of the energy transition because of its central role in the scaling up of clean energy options. Indian energy market has hit the growth button with huge emphasis by the government on energy transition – targeting a jump in Renewable Energy to a level of 450 GW by 2030 and expansion of natural gas in the energy portfolio from around 6.5% today to 15% by 2025. With domestic production of gas posing a major challenge, LNG share is projected to increase to 70 – 75% by 2030. Furthermore, Hydrogen is going to be an important part of the clean energy initiatives by the government.