According to the information compiled by the AA correspondent from the "Global Gas Report 2026" prepared by the International Gas Union (IGU) and Snam, supply and liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade, as well as demand, reached a record level in the global natural gas market last year.
Global natural gas supply increased by 52 billion cubic meters compared to the previous year in 2025, reaching an all-time high of 4 trillion 147 billion cubic meters. While North America led the increase in supply with an increase of 54 billion cubic meters, the Middle East contributed 11 billion cubic meters, Asia 6 billion cubic meters and South America 2 billion cubic meters.
Global natural gas demand increased by 1.7 percent (69 billion cubic meters) in 2025 compared to the previous year, reaching an all-time high of 4 trillion 202 billion cubic meters.
Asia, the Middle East and Europe came to the fore in this increase. Natural gas demand increased by 25 billion cubic meters in Asia, by 18 billion cubic meters in the Middle East, and by approximately 10 billion cubic meters in Europe. While an increase of 6 billion cubic meters was recorded in Africa, 5 billion cubic meters in North America, 4 billion cubic meters in South America and 3 billion cubic meters in Russia, Oceania was the only region where demand decreased.
On a sectoral basis, an increase of 32 billion cubic meters was recorded in residential and commercial consumption. While this item constituted the highest absolute growth in global natural gas demand, the cold winter conditions in North America were especially effective in the increase.
Natural gas demand in Asia increased by 25 billion cubic meters in 2025 compared to the previous year. The increase in electricity production and residential and commercial consumption accounted for approximately 64 percent of the increase in total natural gas demand in the region. The majority of the increase occurred in East Asia and Southeast Asia.
In Europe, natural gas demand increased by approximately 10 billion cubic meters, 2.3 percent, last year. Especially the cold winter conditions at the beginning of the year and the low wind energy production during the winter months increased the use of natural gas in electricity generation. The increase in natural gas demand due to electricity production in Europe was 9 billion cubic meters.
Natural gas demand in North America increased by 5 billion cubic meters. While residential and commercial consumption in the region increased by 21 billion cubic meters and industrial consumption by 2 billion cubic meters, natural gas demand for electricity generation decreased by 18 billion cubic meters.
In the Middle East, one of the regions where the growth in global natural gas demand stands out, consumption increased by 18 billion cubic meters in 2025, increasing by 2.9 percent on an annual basis.
Natural gas demand, especially in the industrial and electricity sectors, was decisive in the growth in the region. While the natural gas demand of the industry increased by 15 billion cubic meters and increased by 9.5 percent last year, the natural gas demand in the electricity sector increased by 4.2 percent with 11 billion cubic meters.
On the other hand, Türkiye's natural gas demand increased by 4 billion cubic meters in 2025 compared to the previous year.
LNG trade in the global natural gas market also reached an all-time high in 2025.
Global LNG trade increased by 43 billion cubic meters compared to the previous year, reaching 580 billion cubic meters. While the report pointed out the increasing role of LNG in the global energy system, it was also stated that the focus of countries on energy supply security was strengthened.
Although China's LNG imports decreased by 10 billion cubic meters compared to 2024, it maintained its position as the world's largest LNG importer. China was followed by Japan with 91 billion cubic meters and South Korea with 67 billion cubic meters.
Europe's LNG imports increased by 32 billion cubic meters in 2025. The report stated that this development reflects Europe's structural transformation away from natural gas supplied by pipelines from Russia and its increasing orientation towards LNG. More than 50 percent of Europe's LNG imports came from the USA.
According to the report, global natural gas demand, which reached an all-time high in 2025, is predicted to decrease by 7 billion cubic meters in 2026.
It was stated that this decrease was due to the Strait of Hormuz crisis reducing the demand for natural gas in the first half of 2026, especially in price-sensitive markets such as developing Asia and Africa.
The report also included digital technologies used in Türkiye's natural gas infrastructure.
The report stated that digitalization in the natural gas and LNG sector has accelerated significantly in recent years, and it was noted that different applications, from artificial intelligence-supported systems to digital twins, from predictive maintenance to remote operation technologies, are used at various stages of the sector.
While it is stated that digital twin technology is used in different areas, from the development of natural gas processing facilities to the management of large natural gas transmission networks, the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) in Türkiye was cited as one of the current applications of this technology.
With the digital twin technology used in TANAP, the operations and integrity of the pipeline in different operating scenarios are evaluated. The report stated that this application supports timely and data-based risk management.
