Gas requirement would last long, Qatar & UAE energy ministers
World
What will happen when Europe would want to restock inventories in coming years, Qatari Minister asks
(Reuters) - The energy ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have stated on Saturday that the need for natural gas would last for a very long time and that further investment was necessary to guarantee supply security and reasonable pricing during the global energy transition.
A mild winter in Europe had caused prices to decline but Saad al-Kaabi, state minister for energy for Qatar, said that volatility would persist for some time to come since there wouldn t be much gas entering the market until 2025.
The problem, he said, is what will happen when Europe wants to restock its inventories in the upcoming year and the following year.
Qatar is one of the biggest producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world. As Europe looks to replace Russian energy imports following supply reductions as a result of Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, UAE is focusing more intently on the gas market.
A minister from Qatar stated that he thought Russian gas will ultimately make its way back to Europe.
Speaking on the same panel, UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said that gas would be there for very long time and that more investment was required in gas as a base load even though more renewable energy will be added.
According to Mazrouei, "the entire globe needs to think about resources and how to encourage businesses to create more gas in order to make it accessible and reasonably priced."
Six LNG trains are part of Qatar s two-phase North Field development plan, which would increase the country s liquefaction capacity from 77 million tonnes annually to 126 million tonnes by 2027.
