Middle East Gas Demand to Outstrip Supply

Natural gas demand in Middle Eastern region is expected to outpace supply in the next five years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

The agency sees demand rising by 79 billion cubic metres (bcm) to 468 bcm per year from 2011 to 2017, a rise of 20 per cent. This demand is expected to be higher than supply by 7 bcm, IEA said.

It said with the exception of Qatar, other countries in the region will have to curb demand or import a lot more expensive gas.

Even the 79 bcm additional gas supply forecast is contingent on the successful development of relatively expensive new gas fields, the IEA said.

"The single biggest uncertainty for this growth is the successful ramp-up of gas production across the Middle East," it said.