Calls for cleaner air and cuts in carbon emissions should boost global demand for natural gas over the next few decades, says Royal Dutch Shell.

The Anglo-Dutch energy company expects gas to account for more than 40 per cent of total energy growth until 2035, according to the company’s annual outlook for liquefied natural gas. This makes gas the largest source of growth in global energy usage over that period.

The predictions from the world’s largest buyer and seller of gas come as global trade in LNG, the super-cooled fuel, rose 10 per cent in 2018 to 319m tonnes, thanks to strong demand from Asia, particularly China. “The continued surge in Chinese LNG imports has helped improve air quality in some of its biggest cities over the past few years,” said Maarten Wetselaar, director of Shell’s integrated gas and new energies. International trade in LNG is expected to increase 11 per cent this year, or 35m tonnes, further rising to 384m tonnes in 2020, according to Shell.

Financial Times