UNITED NATIONS ISSUES 1993 ENERGY STATISTICS YEARBOOK

31 October 1995

Press Release
STAT/431

UNITED NATIONS ISSUES 1993 ENERGY STATISTICS YEARBOOK

19951031 NEW YORK, 31 October (DESIPA, Statistical Division) -- The 1993 Energy Statistics Yearbook, a comprehensive source of annual data on energy use and trends, has been issued by the Statistical Division of the Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis.

Energy statistics for 215 countries and areas in the world are given in this thirty-seventh issue covering the period 1990 through 1993. Included are energy data on production, trade and consumption of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels and electricity.

1993 World Energy Production, Demand

According to the Yearbook, from 1990 to 1993 global commercial energy production increased by 0.2 per cent reaching 8,061 million metric tons of oil equivalent, of which solid fuels accounted for 27 per cent, liquid fuels 40 per cent, natural gas 23 per cent and electricity 10 per cent. During that period, while production of natural gas rose by 3 per cent and of primary electricity by 9 per cent, production of solid fuels decreased significantly by 4 per cent and of liquid fuels slightly by 0.4 per cent. The Yearbook shows that the United States, the Russian Federation and China continued to lead individual countries in energy production with 19 per cent, 13 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively, of the world total. On a regional basis, Asia (including the Middle East) remained the biggest producer of total commercial energy in 1993 with 33 per cent, followed by Europe with 27 per cent and North America holding steady with 26 per cent. World energy consumption grew by 2 per cent between 1990 and 1993, reaching 7,759 million metric tons of oil equivalent in 1993. Figures for 1990 through 1993 reflect increased demand for primary electricity (8.8 per cent), natural gas (3.7 per cent) and liquid fuels (1.6 per cent), and a mild decrease for solid fuels of 0.9 per cent.

Production, Consumption by Fuel Type

Oil: The production of 2,977 million metric tons of world crude oil in 1993 reflected a decline of 1 per cent relative to figures for 1990, the Yearbook notes. However, on a country level, oil output increased significantly in Canada, China, Norway, Oman, Syria, United Kingdom, Viet Nam and Yemen while reduced production was shown for Angola, Malaysia, the Russian Federation, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States. Since 1986, the United States has consistently reduced production of crude oil reaching 345 million metric tons in 1993 -- its lowest output level in three decades.

The Yearbook shows that from 1990 to 1993, world-wide demand for crude petroleum declined by 1.2 per cent annually, due in part to the sharp drop in consumption in eastern Europe and the States of the former Soviet Union and also to the slowdown in the economies of industrialized countries. In developing countries, however, demand for oil in 1993 accounted for 32 per cent of global oil demand. Figures for 1993 show that Asia remained the world's largest regional exporter of crude petroleum with 51 per cent of total exports; Europe was the largest importer with 37 per cent of total imports. Additionally, figures for 1993 in the Yearbook show that total energy products from refineries rose by 1.2 per cent to 2,784 million metric tons, with motor gasoline and gas-diesel oil accounting for 28 per cent and 31 per cent of total production, respectively.

Coal: World coal production, sensitive to oil prices and environmental regulations, declined 1.3 per cent between 1990 and 1993 to 3,470 million metric tons according to the Yearbook. The figures show that about 80 per cent of the world output is accounted for by seven countries: Australia, China, Germany, Poland, the Russian Federation, South Africa and the United States. In 1993, China and the United States remained the leading producers of this commodity, accounting for 33 and 22 per cent of global production, respectively, with China showing a 3.0 per cent increase and the United States a 5.7 per cent decrease from 1992. Significantly, this issue of the Yearbook reveals that Australia, although sixth in world-wide production of coal in 1993, exported the largest amount of hard coal in that year -- 128 million metric tons or a 30 per cent share of world exports. Also, Japan was the leading importer of this commodity with 111 million metric tons or 25 per cent share of world imports.

Gas: Natural gas remained the world's consistently growing energy source. However, according to the Yearbook, while production of natural gas, which provides 23 per cent of global energy, rose 4 per cent from 1990 to 1993, consumption per capita declined 0.8 per cent during the same period. Figures show that while the United States and the Russian Federation, the leaders in production of this commodity, each produced 20 million terajoules of natural gas or 26 per cent of the global total production in 1993, there was a marked difference in the consumption between the two countries, with the United States registering 29 per cent and the Russian Federation 19 per cent of world-wide demand.

Electricity: As stated in the Yearbook, from 1990 to 1993, the generation of electricity worldwide increased by 1.5 per cent annually to 12,318 billion kilowatt-hours, of which 63 per cent was generated by fossil fuels, 20 per cent by hydropower and 17 per cent by nuclear power. In 1993, while regional electricity production ranged from a low of 200 billion kilowatt-hours in Oceania to a high of 4,089 billion kilowatt-hours in Europe, consumption per capita was lowest in Africa -- 493 kilowatt-hours, and highest in North America -- 8,747 kilowatt-hours. From 1990 to 1993, total production of

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nuclear energy remained at 17 per cent of global electricity production. Four countries, the United States, France, Japan and the Russian Federation, accounted for 62 per cent of all nuclear energy produced in the world in 1993. In France, nuclear energy production of 368,188 million kilowatt-hours represented 78 per cent of total electricity production in that country; in the United States, 610,365 million kilowatt-hours marked 19 per cent of the country's total electricity production. Japan's 249,256 million kilowatt- hours of nuclear energy generated in 1993 not only reflected 27 per cent of Japan's total electricity production but also represented 71 per cent of all nuclear energy generated in Asia in the same year.

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Note: The 1993 Energy Statistics Yearbook (Statistical Papers, Series J, No.37, Sales No. E/F.95.XVII.9) may be ordered in clothbound edition for $85 from the Sales Section of the United Nations in New York and Geneva, or from major book stores throughout the world. Data published in the Yearbook are available for dissemination on magnetic tape or diskettes. The energy database covers the period 1950 to 1993. Inquiries should be addressed to the United Nations Statistical Division, 2 United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-1420, New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.