Still half a century ago, known oil reserves on our planet were almost twice the amount of explored blue fuel. Today the situation has completely changed. Explored reserves of natural gas have become equal to "black gold" in terms of their indicators and continue to grow rapidly.
By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the total volume of already explored gas resources in the world was about 190 trillion cubic meters. cubic meters. At the current rate of consumption, this amount will be enough for mankind for 60 years, no more. And then natural gas will disappear, since it belongs to mineral resources that cannot be renewed again in the bowels of the earth. Although experts estimate the potential volume of natural gas is much higher, because there are still many hard-to-reach deposits on the planet that have not been fully explored, and their reserves have not yet been accurately determined.
Among states, the largest known natural gas deposits are:
- Russia.
- Iran.
- Qatar.
- Turkmenistan.
- Saudi Arabia.
Next inranking with great potential gas resources are the UAE, USA, Algeria, Venezuela, Nigeria.
Russian natural gas
The Russian Federation accounts for about 24% of the world's resources of this natural we alth, it is by far the most provided with them among all countries in the world. The largest deposits on its territory are:
- Urengoyskoe – 10.2 trillion. m3.
- Bovanenkovo - 5.3 trillion. m3.
- Yamburgskoe – 5.2 trillion. m3.
There are other oil and gas basins, including those on the shelf of the northern seas. The main share of deposits is concentrated in the Asian part of Russia.
Middle East
One of the richest regions of our planet is the Persian Gulf. There are not only huge oil deposits, but also natural gas in large volumes. According to its reserves, such countries as Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia stand out. The North and South Pars field alone contains 28 trillion. cubic meters of gas.
North and South America
The United States is the largest owner of these natural resources in America - explored reserves amount to 7.63 trillion. cubic meters. In addition, there are also shale gas deposits on the territory of this country. There are large natural gas reserves in Canada, Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil.
Asian countries
Several large deposits are located in Turkmenistan, among which Galkynsh stands out with a volume of 21.2 trillion.m3. And there are others - Shatlyk, Dovletabad, Yashlar. Natural gas is produced commercially in China, India, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Africa and Europe
The main African reserves are concentrated in Nigeria and Algeria. The largest Algerian deposits are Hassi Rmeil (2.6 trillion m3), In-Salah (2.3 trillion m3) and In-Amenas (2 trillion m3).
There are several large gas-bearing basins in Europe as well. For example, Shebelinskoye in Ukraine, Troll in Norway, as well as in Hungary, the Netherlands, Albania and others.
Resource relevance
After oil, the second most important resource for the energy industry is, of course, natural gas, the price of which will grow in the future, as the demand for it is constantly increasing. And we will have to hear more than once in the news reports about the above countries and deposits.
