The growth in energy demand, estimated at 3 % per year, the need to decarbonize the economy, reinforced by the COP21 agreement, the growth of unconventional renewable energy sources, the technological possibilities and market possibilities offered by the new dynamics of natural gas at the global level, and the existence of natural resources will be the main drivers for the development of natural gas in the region, as stated in the new report “Trends of the Natural Gas Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean” developed by the Gas and Energy Committee of the Regional Association of Oil, Gas and Biofuels Sector Companies in Latin America and the Caribbean (ARPEL).

The document presents the main macro tendencies observed in the natural gas sector at the regional and global level, which will have a determining role in the evolution of the sector in the coming years and which impose significant challenges for companies and governments.

Natural gas currently represents 24 % of the global energy matrix and 26 %, of the energy matrix in Latin America and the Caribbean. The advantages at the environmental level that natural gas presents as a substitute for coal and liquid fuels for industrial use, power generation or transportation suggest that this fuel will significantly increase its share in the global and regional energy mix in the coming decades. There is a strong international consensus on this expected trend.

Latin America and the Caribbean produce approximately 640 Mm³/d of natural gas, which represents 7 % of the global production, while consumption is approximately 700 Mm³/d. The natural gas deficit is covered by Mexican imports through gas pipelines from the United States, and through purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the twelve regasification terminals existing today. Proven natural gas reserves in the region are estimated in 282.9 Tcf, concentrated mainly in Venezuela. However, there is a great potential for development both in unconventional resources and in other underexplored conventional resources, such as offshore resources.

The report "Trends of the Natural Gas Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean” analyzes both the regional situation and the situation by country, the potential impact of large infrastructure projects underway, the new dynamics of LNG, the exporting developments, the small-scale LNG, the transportation sector, the electricity sector, the complementarity of natural gas with renewable energies and the most likely scenarios of regional gas and electricity integration.

The main challenges identified in the report, which must be addressed by the countries and companies in the region, are to develop trade integration, to work multilaterally in the harmonization of regulations and to adopt an overall view allowing to consider energy investments in a comprehensive regional manner, as stated by the leaders of the main natural gas companies in the region gathered in ARPEL Gas and Energy Committee

The full report on "Trends of the Natural Gas Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean" can be accessed at https://arpel.org/library/publication/458/