Acrobat Reader 12. Petroleum Petroleum reserves are of particular importance, given the central role that petroleum plays in world energy supplies and world energy markets. Oil dominates the international trade in energy because of its ready portability. Regionally, however, reserves have been declining in many important energy-consuming nations.
Most solid fuel is consumed in the country where it is produced because of the expense of transport.
In China and India, solid fuels dominate the energy mix, accounting for about three quarters of commercial energy production in both countries. Currently, natural gas is the fossil fuel experiencing the fastest growth in consumption. Natural gas now supplies 23 percent of global commercial energy, and production has risen more than 70 percent in the past 20 years. Even though estimates of global natural gas reserves have been increasing rapidly, there is still less natural gas than petroleum in proved reserves. Russia holds the largest natural gas reserves with 48,160 billion cubic meters in 1993.