The demand for Qatar’s natural gas will remain strong in the coming years. Countries from Asia, Africa and Middle East will drive the demand for Qatar’s LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), said H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Chairman of the Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah International Foundation for Energy and Sustainable Development.
“We see that a lot of developing countries have started to decide to consume LNG. We signed last year, big contracts with Pakistan, few weeks ago we signed another contract with Bangladesh and two years ago we signed a contract with Thailand. Now we are discussing with Sri Lanka, Philippine and Cambodia and other Asian market,” said Al Attiyah talking the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. The former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry said that China and India will continue to seek more gas. “Developing countries will be a big market for us. India and China are expecting they will need more demand. Last year India we have a big contract with them, almost 8 million tonnes last year, they add another one million tones. So almost now nine million tonnes to India,” he said.
“So we believe that there will be a big demand from China, India and the developing country and Middle East countries. We see that Kuwait also we signed a contract with them for four years now, but maybe it will extend it. we see Jordan also now in the processing now to import LNG,” he added.
There will be demand for natural gas from African countries as they will need electricity and power to meet their development needs.
“We believe Africa will be a big market also, when you develop you need more power, and more electricity,” he added.
He said that Qatar’s Golden Pass project in United States is on track and once it is operational it will boost country’s export.
“Today Qatar sell over produce 77 million tonnes, putting Qatar as the biggest LNG producers in the world. Qatar is operating the biggest gas transportation company in the world. So Qatar is the most flexible supplier LNG to the world,” he said.
Replying to a question if Qatar would continue to supply gas to UAE, he said the supply will continue to the country. “We never breach our contract we respect our contract,” he said.
