Gas and Fuel Supply

Although the piping of natural gas (methane) as an energy supply for industrial and domestic heating was established early in this century, as an adjunct of the North American oil industry, the technology took on a wider significance in the 1960s with the 

Country Gas Reserve 10 m Annual Production 10 Annual Consumption 10 m Use as % Primary Energy % Households Supplied Gas Consumed per Person per Year 000 m  

Some idea of potential market size can be gained from examination of ratios of gas usage per head of population (Table 3.4). Highly developed markets such as UK, Germany, Italy 

Source D. Oesterholt and M. Welters, Presented at the lOM Plastics Pipes X Conference, Goteborq, Sweden, 1998, p.9. Tables 1 and 2.  

Analysis of the data indicates the maturity of the gas supply markets in North and West Europe. Here there is a steady market for PE to be used in the replacement and refurbishment of the still large iron pipe legacy. In Southern Europe and the Mediterranean countries, natural gas supply was slower to develop and so their rapid growth as PE pipe markets is still taking place. 

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