MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. Global gas consumption may grow by 2.3% in 2024, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) reported.

"The projected growth in global gas consumption for 2024 has been revised upwards to 2.3%. This revision is primarily due to a faster-than-expected increase in gas consumption in key consuming countries, which together account for 60% of global gas demand," the report said. The organization expected an increase by 1.5% in September and by 2.2% in October.

In the first nine months of 2024, total gas consumption in those countries rose by 2.8% year-on-year to 1.798 trillion cubic meters, the GECF said. The growth was primarily driven by Asia and North America, while the EU and the UK experienced declines.

In October, the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its report on the gas market left its projection on growth of global gas demand for 2024 at 2.5% to record 4.2 trillion cubic meters. The agency also expects global gas demand to gain another 2.3% (or almost 100 bln cubic meters) in 2025.