Shell CEO Says Believes Natural Gas To Be In High Demand In Future

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden wrote in an article for RIA Novosti that he believes that there will be a high demand for natural gas in the future due to the global need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th March, 2019) Shell CEO Ben van Beurden wrote in an article for RIA Novosti that he believes that there will be a high demand for natural gas in the future due to the global need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"The world needs natural gas because it emits between 45% and 55% lower greenhouse gas emissions than coal when used to generate electricity. It also produces less than one-tenth of the air pollutants, which makes natural gas a very attractive option in areas of the world suffering from air pollution," van Beurden said.

He described natural gas as an "ideal partner" for wind and solar power.

"Gas-powered turbines are quick and easy to bring on stream. In a world using more and more renewable generation, which is vulnerable to cloudy or windless days, the flexibility of gas turbines makes natural gas the ideal partner for wind and solar power.

And there are many other uses for gas in the energy system, such as a cleaner fuel option for shipping, rail and heavy-duty road transport like trucks and buses," the Shell CEO stressed.

According to the third Shell LNG Outlook, the global demand for natural gas i set to grow by 2 percent annually until 2035.

"Shell has just published its third LNG Outlook publication. It sets out how we expect natural gas demand will grow at an average of around 2% a year between now and 2035. The future of liquefied natural gas looks even better. We expect demand for LNG to increase at an average of around 4% per year until 2035," van Beurden added.

Shell is one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies as well as one of the most significant foreign investors in the Russian economy.