NEW UNITED NATIONS HANDBOOK INDICATES GLOBAL ENERGY PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION PATTERN IN YEARS 1991-1994

9 October 1996

Press Release
DEV/2120

NEW UNITED NATIONS HANDBOOK INDICATES GLOBAL ENERGY PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION PATTERN IN YEARS 1991-1994

19961009 Overall Output Increase Reported; United States, Russian Federation, China Major Sources of Global Production

NEW YORK, 8 October (DESIPA) -- The 1994 Energy Statistics Yearbook, a comprehensive source of annual data on energy use and trends, has been issued by the Statistics Division of the Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis (DESIPA). Covering the period 1991 through 1994, this thirty-eighth issue presents energy statistics for 215 countries and areas in the world.

Included are energy data on production, trade and consumption of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels and electricity. For the first time, the Yearbook shows the ratio of crude petroleum reserves to petroleum production which is used to show how long the reserves would last if production continued at the current level.

1994 World Energy Production and Demand

Global commercial energy production increased by 3.9 per cent between 1991 and 1994, reaching 8,325 million metric tons of oil equivalent, of which liquid fuels accounted for 39 per cent, solid fuels 28 per cent, natural gas 23 per cent and electricity 10 per cent. The United States (21 per cent), Russian Federation (12 per cent) and China (10 per cent) continued to lead individual countries in global energy production.

World energy consumption grew by 3 per cent between 1991 and 1994, reaching 7,881 million metric tons of oil equivalent in 1994. Figures for 1991 through 1994 reflect increased demand for primary electricity (8 per cent), natural gas (2 per cent), solid fuels (5.4 per cent) and liquid fuels (1.6 per cent).

Production and Consumption by Fuel Type

Oil: The production of 3,032 million metric tons of world crude oil in 1994 reflected a 2 per cent increase since 1991. Among the regions, North

America showed a significant decrease of 4.7 per cent between 1991 and 1994. (Since 1986 the United States has consistently reduced production of crude oil, reaching 336 million metric tons in 1994 -- its lowest output level in three decades). Global demand of 3,031 million metric tons in 1994 showed a modest increase of 1.3 per cent over figures for 1991. However, Asia displayed a marked increase in consumption in 1994, taking 32 per cent of world-wide demand -- up from 27 per cent in 1991.

Asia remained the world's largest regional exporter of crude petroleum with 51 per cent of total exports. Europe was the largest importer, with 36 per cent of total imports. Total energy products from refineries increased slightly (0.8 per cent) to 2,757 million metric tons between 1991 and 1994, with motor gasoline and gas-diesel oil accounting for 28 per cent and 32 per cent of total production respectively.

Coal: World coal production increased to 3,580 million metric tons in 1994, a 3.3 per cent increase over 1991. About 80 per cent of the world output is accounted for by seven countries: Australia, China, Germany, Poland, Russian Federation, South Africa and the United States. In 1994, China and the United States remained the leading coal producers, with 35 and 24 per cent of global production respectively. Australia, although sixth in world-wide production of coal in 1994, exported the largest amount of hard coal in that year -- 129 million metric tons or 30 per cent share of world exports. Japan was the leading importer of coal with 116 million metric tons or 26 per cent share of world imports.

Gas: Natural gas remained the world's consistently growing energy source. While production of natural gas, which provides 23 per cent of global energy, rose 4 per cent from 1991 to 1994, consumption per capita declined 2.5 per cent during the same period. Although the United States and the Russian Federation -- leaders in production of this commodity -- each produced 20 million terajoules of natural gas (or 26 per cent of the global total production) in 1994, there was a marked difference in the consumption between the two countries, with the United States registering 29 per cent and the Russian Federation 17 per cent of world-wide demand.

Electricity: From 1991 to 1994, the generation of electricity worldwide increased 5.5 per cent to 12,681 billion kilowatt-hours, of which 63 per cent was generated by fossil fuels, 19 per cent by hydropower and 17 per cent by nuclear power. In 1994 regional electricity production ranged from a low of 215 billion kilowatt-hours in Oceania to a high of 4,015 billion kilowatt hours in Europe. Consumption per capita was lowest in Africa -- 494 kilowatt hours, and highest in North America -- 8,990 kilowatt hours. Among individual countries, Norway, including Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, showed the highest consumption figures per capita of 26,205 kilowatt hours.

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Significantly, almost 100 per cent of Norway's electricity -- 113,389 million kilowatt hours -- was generated from hydropower.

Nuclear energy: Total production of nuclear energy remained at 17 per cent of global electricity production. Five countries -- the United States, France, Japan, United Kingdom and the Russian Federation -- accounted for 66 per cent of all nuclear energy produced in the world in 1994. In France, nuclear energy production of 359,981 million kilowatt-hours represented 76 per cent of total electricity production in that country (down 2.2 per cent from the previous year); in the United States, 640,491 million kilowatt-hours marked 20 per cent of the country's total electricity production. Japan's 269,126 million kilowatt-hours of nuclear energy generated in 1994 not only reflected 28 per cent of Japan's total electricity production (up 1 per cent from 1993) but also represented 70 per cent of all nuclear energy generated in Asia in the same year.

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Note: The 1994 Energy Statistics Yearbook (Statistical Papers, Series J, No.38, Sales No. E/F.96.XVII.8) is available in clothbound edition for $90 from the Sales Section of the United Nations in New York and Geneva, or from major book stores throughout the world. The energy statistics database covering the period 1950 through 1994 is available for dissemination on magnetic tape or diskettes. Inquiries should be addressed to the United Nations Statistics Division, 2 United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-1420, New York, NY 10017, USA.