The National: Arabian Gulf headed for future of gas imports as consumption surges

A near doubling of gas demand in the Middle East and North Africa by 2035 could eat into exports and turn some countries in the region into net importers, the secretary general of the Doha-based Gas Exporting Countries Forum said yesterday.

Gas demand in the region is forecast to more than double to 780 billion cubic meters (bcm) by 2035 from 350 bcm in 2013, Seyed Adeli said at a gas conference in Dubai.

“If adequate structural reforms in the energy sector did not take place in these countries of the Middle East, it may cause reduction of their export,” said Mr Adeli. “We see in the next 20 years that some countries even may become net importers if this persists. In this region we have just two gas surplus countries – Qatar, Iran and Oman to some extent – but the rest are gas-deficit countries.”

Qatar is the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). It has a capacity to produce 77 million tonnes per year of LNG.
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