Global demand for gas slows except in China. According to the most recent annual report of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the 1.2% increase in global consumption in 2013 to 3,500 billion cubic metres of gas, means that this source increased less last year than other primary sources of energy. It has been hit by competition from coal and renewable energies over the past decade but in 2013 it was also overtaken by oil, according to the IEA. The latter revised its forecasts downwards for global gas consumption up to 2019 and estimates that its market share would only increase by 0.5 points to 22%, with consumption of 3,980 billion cubic metres by this date. China will be the driving force behind consumption over the next five years. This country is expected to almost double its consumption by 2019. In many other regions of the world, growth is expected to slow, a development which could be exacerbated by price hikes, particularly for liquefied natural gas (LNG), says the IEA. (IL)