The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently released its natural gas market report for the first quarter of 2025. The report indicates that global demand for natural gas grew steadily in 2024, though the growth rate is expected to slow in 2025, reaching approximately 4.286 trillion cubic meters. It is projected that the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will continue to grow into 2026, while natural gas consumption is set to keep rising, potentially breaking historical records. Notably, gas prices spiked in the first half of 2025 due to supply shortages but declined in the second half of the year as LNG production increased in the U.S. and other regions.
Driven by expanding industrial activity, natural gas consumption in Africa increased by 3% in 2025 and is projected to grow by 2.5% in 2026. However, in terms of global regional consumption in 2025, the highest volumes are attributed to North America and Asia, while Africa's consumption remains relatively low. Specifically, North America will consume 1.175 trillion cubic meters, the Asia-Pacific region will consume 982 billion cubic meters, the Middle East 639 billion cubic meters, Europe 522 billion cubic meters, Africa 175 billion cubic meters, and Latin America 154 billion cubic meters. Caspian Energy Media reports, citing shpgx.com.
Furthermore, the report shows that although Africa's LNG exports decreased in 2025, new exporting countries have emerged. Nigeria became Africa's largest LNG exporter, while recently constructed Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) facilities in the Republic of the Congo and Senegal have expanded their capacities. Mauritania has also emerged as a new LNG exporter. In addition, Angola, Mozambique, and Nigeria have demonstrated further expansion of their LNG business operations.
African LNG exports decreased by 15% in 2025, driven by factors such as falling exports from Algeria and rising imports from Egypt. Algeria's LNG exports in 2025 dropped by 18% compared to 2024, a decline attributed to growing domestic demand, aging oilfield infrastructure, and the necessity of conducting scheduled maintenance. Furthermore, natural gas production in Egypt significantly decreased while domestic demand grew, resulting in LNG imports reaching 12.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2025. Approximately 80% of these imports originated from the United States. Additionally, Egypt imported 8.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Israel via pipeline. Although Mozambique continues to face security challenges and financing uncertainty, new LNG projects are expected to come online in 2028.
