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Doha: Qatar is expected to retain its position as the world’s largest LNG exporter by 2050. Qatar along with Iran will contribute significantly in the growth of natural gas production in the Middle East, noted a report released by Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) yesterday.
“Currently, Qatar is the largest LNG exporter, and it is working to increase its liquefaction capacity to 126 mtpa (million tonnes per annum) by 2027. Post-2027, a further 55 mtpa of speculative LNG projects remain to be completed. It is forecast that Qatar will maintain its position as the top LNG exporter in the world by 2050,” noted the 5th edition of ‘Global Gas Outlook 2050’ by GECF.
Contributing to almost 17 percent of global gas production, the Middle East is the third-largest gas producer worldwide after North America and Eurasia. In 2019, output stood at more than 680 billion cubic meters (bcm), said the report. Rising demand for natural gas in the region, as well as the potential to export natural gas to neighbouring countries and the global potential of LNG exports are the main drivers of the expansion in the region’s gas production.
“Saudi Arabia is pushing to enhance output levels at the Ghawar oil field and has also announced its intention to invest in unconventional production, which is anticipated to impact positively on overall production. However, the two main contributors to incremental natural gas production in the region are Iran and Qatar, which are forecast to account for around 50 percent and 30 percent of regional expansion, respectively,” noted the report.
The report expects that natural gas production in the region will continue to rise to more than 1150 bcm by 2050 by which time the share of the region in global marketed gas production would have risen to almost 19.4 percent.
The Middle East will be responsible for more than 24 percent of the change in world natural gas production by 2050, adding more than 460 bcm to its current annual production.
