Who Produced the Most Natural Gas in 2022?

Which country produced the most natural gas last year?

According to the Energy Institute’s (EI) first, and the overall 72nd, annual statistical review of world energy, the answer to that question is the United States.

The U.S. produced 978.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year, which marked a 3.6 percent year on year increase and 24.2 percent of global natural gas production in 2022, the EI review outlined. From 2012 to 2022, natural gas production in the U.S. has grown 4.2 percent year on year, the review revealed.

Russia ranked second in 2022 in terms of natural gas production, according to the EI review, which showed that the country produced 618.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas. This figure marked an 11.9 percent year on year drop in output and 15.3 percent of the global total last year, EI highlighted. From 2012 to 2022, Russian natural gas production has grown 0.3 percent year on year, the review pointed out.

Iran was the country with the third highest natural gas production figure last year, the review showed. The country produced 259.4 billion cubic meters in 2022, which was 1.1 percent more than 2021 and 6.4 percent of the world’s total natural gas production last year, according to the EI review, which revealed that, from 2012 to 2022, Iran’s natural gas production has grown 5.2 percent year on year.

Total natural gas production in 2022 was 4.043 trillion cubic meters, which marked a 0.2 percent drop on last year, the EI review highlighted. Global natural gas output has grown 2.0 percent year on year from 2012 to 2022, the review outlined.

Of the total 2022 natural gas production figure, 1.589 trillion cubic meters hail from OECD countries, while the remaining 2.454 trillion cubic meters come from non-OECD countries, the review revealed.

Natural Gas Demand

In addition to being the top natural gas producer last year, the U.S. had the largest natural gas consumption rate in 2022, according to the review, which outlined that this figure was 881.2 billion cubic meters.

That number was 5.4 percent higher than the country’s natural gas consumption in 2021 and 22.4 percent of the global natural gas consumption total last year, EI highlighted. From 2012 to 2022, natural gas demand in the U.S. has increased 2.5 percent year on year, the review showed.

Russian had the second highest natural gas consumption rate in 2022 at 408 billion cubic meters, which was 14 percent down on 2021 and 10.4 percent of the 2022 natural gas consumption total, the EI review outlined. The country’s natural gas demand has declined 0.5 percent year on year from 2012 to 2022, the review pointed out.

The country with the third largest natural gas consumption rate in the review is China, which was shown to have consumed 375.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2022. That figure was 1.2 percent less than last year and 9.5 percent of the 2022 natural gas demand total, the review revealed. From 2012 to 2022, China’s natural gas demand has grown 9.6 percent year on year, according to the review.

Total natural gas consumption came in at 3.941 trillion cubic meters in 2022, which was 3.1 percent down on 2021 figures, the review outlined. Global natural gas demand has increased 1.7 percent year on year from 2012 to 2022, the review showed.

Non-OECD countries provided 2.144 trillion cubic meters of demand while OECD countries made up the remaining 1.794 trillion cubic meters, the review highlighted.

Record Natural Gas Prices

In a release accompanying the review, which was posted on the EI’s site earlier this year, the EI stated that natural gas prices reached record levels in Europe and Asia in 2022, “rising nearly threefold in Europe (TTF averaging $37/mmBtu) and doubling in the Asian LNG spot market (JKM averaging $34/mmBtu)”.

“U.S. Henry Hub prices rose over 50 percent to average $6.5/mmBtu in 2022 – their highest annual level since 2008,” the release added.

The release also noted that global natural gas demand declined by three percent in 2022 “dropping just below the four trillion cubic meter mark achieved for the first time in 2021”.

“Its share in primary energy in 2022 decreased slightly to 24 percent (from 25 percent in 2021),” the release said.

“Global gas production remained relatively constant compared to 2021,” the release added.

In its latest short term energy outlook, which was released last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted that the Henry Hub spot price averaged $6.42/mmBtu in 2022.

In that STEO, the EIA forecast that the Henry Hub spot price would average $2.58/mmBtu in 2023 and $3.24/mmBtu in 2024.

The EIA projected that the Henry Hub spot price would average $2.58/mmBtu in 2023 and $3.22/mmBtu in 2024 in its previous August STEO.

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