O&G Journal: ExxonMobil sees gas displacing coal as world's No. 2 energy source

Natural gas appears likely to supplant coal as the world’s second biggest energy source—after crude oil—by 2025, ExxonMobil Corp. said as it released its 2013 Energy Outlook. Demand for gas will grow by about 65% through 2040, with 20% of worldwide production occurring in North America, supported by growing supplies from shale and other unconventional sources, it said.

“Today, the world consumes some 25 times the energy it used 200 years ago,” William M. Colton, ExxonMobil’s vice-president of corporate strategic planning, said as he presented the forecast at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Dec. 11.

“It took over 100 years from the first oil well’s discovery until oil became the world’s No. 1 energy source,” he continued. “Natural gas is poised to surge as modern renewables also grow.”  MORE