ENERGY RESOURCES

COAL AND NATURAL GAS

ENERGY RESOURCES

Unequal levels of production and consumption

Worldwide consumption of energy has grown six times during the 2nd half
of the 20th century
Top 10 energy surplus countries: Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Iran, Algeria,
Nigeria, Kuwait, Indonesia, Libya, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates
Almost half of all African countries are energy paupers
Japan, USA, Western European countries consume more than produce
USA accounts for 5% of the world population and 25% of energy
consumption
Underdeveloped countries represent 78% of the world population and
consume 25% of energy produced at the global level
Developed countries 40% oil, 30% coal and gas each
Developing countries coal in non-oil exporting countries, gas much less
important

ENERGY RESOURCES

Highly concentrated patterns of fossil fuels

Coal
the most extensive deposits are concentrated in the industrialised middle
latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere
The top 10 richest countries in coal deposits account for 90% of the world
total
China and the USA account for more than 50% of total world coal output at
the start of the 21st century

Natural gas
The top 10 richest countries account for 76% of the world total
40% of the proven gas reserves belong to only two countries, Russia and
Iran
The first three producers Russia, the United States and Canada account for
50% of the world total

COAL RESERVES AND PRODUCTION

- RECENT TRENDS -

Proven reserves of coal stand at 909,064 million tons in 2011. Coal

reserves are located in the leading energy-consuming regions to a greater
degree than oil and natural gas
World proved reserves of coal in 2011 were sufficient to meet 112 years of
global production, by far the largest R/P ratio for any fossil fuel. Europe &
Eurasia holds the largest regional reserves and has the highest R/P ratio.
The Asia Pacific region holds the second-largest reserves, while North
America has the second-highest R/P ratio
Coal was again the fastest-growing fossil fuel. Global production grew by
6.1%. The Asia Pacific region accounted for 85% of global production
growth, led by an 8.8% increase in China, the worlds largest supplier

Coal consumption grew by 5.4% in 2011, the only fossil fuel to record above
average growth and the fastest-growing form of energy outside renewables
Consumption outside the OECD rose by an above-average 8.4%, led by
Chinese consumption growth of 9.7%. OECD consumption declined by
1.1% with losses in the US and Japan offsetting growth in Europe.

COAL RESERVES AND PRODUCTION

BY LEADING COUNTRIES, 2011
Country

Reserves
(billion tons)

Country

Production
(million tons)

United States

247

China

2,380

Russia

157

United States

1,054

China

115

India

447

India

92

Australia

374

Australia

79

Russia

309

Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2011

NE China Manciuria
(Fushun, Benxi)
N China Taiuan and
Datong catchments
Central China Honan
Province
E and SE China Yunan
and Honan Provinces

Appalachi Mts.
Pennsylvania to Alabama
Along the banks of the
Mississippi River
On the right bank
Ohio, Illinois, Indiana,
Kentucky
On the left bank Iowa,
Missouri, Nebraska,
Kansas, Oklahoma
Rocky Mts. Wyoming,
Colorado, Utah, North
Dakota

NE India (Bihar, Assam,

Madhya Pradesh, West
Bengal)
Jamshedpur Indias
steel making and metal
processing center
(Durgapur,Bokaro,
Rourkela)
Smaller sites in
Hyderabad and Madras

FUTURE PROSPECTS

The United States leads the world in coal reserves, but has given way to
China as the main producer and consumer of coal worldwide
More than 55% of the coal consumed worldwide is for electricity generation,
and in the United States an even higher share around 92%. Electricity
generation will be the basis for future growth in coal use, worldwide
By 2020, energy consumption by the Developing World is expected to
surpass that of the Industrialized World, and this will raise the coal use
The future of coal use is hampered by the environmental consequences of
large-scale coal burning

NATURAL GAS RESERVES AND PRODUCTION

- RECENT TRENDS

Global natural gas reserves increased by 12.3 trillion cubic metres to 208.4
trillion cubic metres
World proved natural gas reserves at end-2011 were sufficient to meet 63.6
years of production. A large increase in Turkmen reserves pushed the R/P
ratio for Europe & Eurasia to 75.9 years. The Middle East still holds the
largest reserves (38.4% of the world total, compared with 37.8% for Europe
& Eurasia) and has an R/P ratio of over 150 years.
The global natural gas R/P ratio remained well above the oil R/P ratio
Global natural gas production grew by 3.1%. The US (+7.7%) recorded the
largest volumetric increase despite lower gas prices, and remained the
worlds largest producer
Output also grew rapidly in Qatar (+25.8%), Russia (+3.1%) and
Turkmenistan (+40.6%), more than offsetting declines in Libya (-75.6%) and
the UK (-20.8%). The EU recorded the largest decline in gas production on
record (-11.4%), due to a combination of mature fields, maintenance, and
weak regional consumption. Production growth in Russia and Turkmenistan
was partly offset by a large decline in European production

NATURAL GAS RESERVES AND PRODUCTION, 2011

Country

Reserves
(trillion cubic
meters)

Country

Production
(billion cubic
meters)

Russia

47.65

Russia

612.1

Iran

28.13

United States

524.1

United States

5.93

Canada

187.0

Norway

2.89

Iran

105.0

Canada

1.67

Norway

87.6

World total

181.46

World total

2865.3

Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2011

Western Siberia along the lower Obi River and the continental platform of the Kara
Sea
Urengoi gasfield is one of the biggest and most productive in the world and together
with the Orenburg deposit in the southern Ural Mts. Are the exporting areas to
European countries

The Trans-Siberian gas pipeline connecting the Arctic Ocean and the Central
Europe. It is nearly 1.4 meter in diameter, and 4,450 km in length. It is capable
of sending 34 billion cubic meters of gas from its source to consumers.

The Mexico Gulf (2/3 of

the USA output)
Texas and Louisiana
Middlecontinent
southern concentration
in Oklahoma and
Kansas and northern
concentration in South
and North Dakota
Rocky Mts. California,
New Mexico, Wyoming,
Colorado
Appalachi Mts.
Pennsylvania, West
Virginia

Canadian Provinces
Alberta, Saskatchewan,
British Colombia
40% of the natural gas
is exported to USA
through the
transcanadian pipeline
connecting Edmonton
to Chicago and San
Francisco

World natural gas consumption grew by 2.2%.

Consumption growth was below average in all regions except North America, where low
prices drove robust growth. Outside North America, the largest volumetric gains in
consumption were in China (+21.5%), Saudi Arabia (+13.2%) and Japan
(+11.6%).These increases were partly offset by the largest decline on record in EU gas
consumption (9.9%).

MAJOR

NATURAL

GAS

TRADE

MOVEMENTS

Global natural gas trade increased by a relatively modest 4% in 2011

LNG shipments grew by 10.1% with Qatar (+34.8%) accounting for virtually all
(87.7%) of the increase. Pipeline shipments grew by just 1.3%

WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE?

Natural gas trends:

Natural gas is the fastest growing primary energy source.

Its use is to double, worldwide, by 2020.
But this growth requires major infrastructure investments.
The U.S. will become more reliant on imported natural gas.
Russia, today providing 26% of the natural gas that Europe consumes, has
its eye on expanding that share.

The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is an intergovernmental organization

of 11 of the world's leading natural gas producers made up of Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt,
Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago and
Venezuela. GECF members together control over 70% of the world's natural gas
reserves, 38% of the pipeline trade and 85% of the liquefied natural gas (LNG)
production. The three largest reserve-holders in the GECF--Russia, Iran and Qatar-alone hold about 57% of global gas reserves.
Since the establishment of the GECF in 2001 there has always been speculation that
some of the world's largest producers of natural gas, in particular Russia and Iran,
intend to create a gas cartel equivalent to OPEC which would set quotas and prices.
The idea of a gas OPEC was first floated by then Russian President Vladimir Putin
and backed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev in 2002. In May 2006
Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev threatened that Russia would create
"an alliance of gas suppliers that will be more influential than OPEC" if Russia did not
get its way in energy negotiations with Europe. Iranian officials have explicitly
expressed strong support for a gas cartel and held official talks with Russia.