Gas demand set for first fall in 50 years

Global demand for gas is expected to fall in 2009 marking the first annual decline since the Fifties, a new report warns.

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) annual Natural Gas Market Review said: ‘[We] project that for the first time in 50 years, the world will witness a drop in global gas demand.’

It says that after a 1% increase in gas consumption in 2008, gas demand among OECD countries fell by 4% during the first quarter of 2009 – January to March – and is expected to decline further this year.

‘The global financial crisis has turned the economic landscape upside down, with huge implications for the oil and gas sector,’ said Nobuo Tanaka, IEA executive director.

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