France’s Total Sees Natural Gas Demand Far Outpacing Oil

French oil and gas company Total SA expects the global natural gas market to grow far faster than that for crude oil over the next two decades thanks to booming demand for the cleaner-burning fuel in Asia, an outlook that underpinned Total’s recent big investments in the space, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said on June 25.

Total expects to close a $1.5 billion acquisition of Engie SA’s LNG assets in July, making it the second biggest producer of the super-cooled gas in the world behind Royal Dutch Shell Plc.