Qatar, he said, has “taken all necessary measures to ensure the steady, uninterrupted flow” of oil and gas to its customers.
Speaking at the 7th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable in Bangkok yesterday he also emphasised that Qatar sought to work with buyers as a “complete energy solution provider”.
At the session entitled ‘Natural Gas: Overcoming Market and Policy Hurdles to the Golden Age of Gas’, al-Sada said the world energy analysts expected global gas consumption to increase by over 50% between now and 2040, and was becoming the fastest growing fossil fuel, and the centrepiece of the energy equation.
He added that the market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) was expanding beyond the power sector to include long-haul road transport and marine sectors as well. Al-Sada explained that “LNG was steadily becoming the fuel of choice” across the globe, as consumers seek an energy source that supports economic development while adequately addressing environmental concerns.
The minister said emerging economies of Asia have come to the forefront with regard to energy demand, underpinned by economic growth along with a demographic boom.
He said the outlook for expansion of LNG consumption and imports in Asian countries such as Pakistan, Thailand, and Bangladesh was “very promising”, and that other countries such as Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and the Philippines are expected to join the Asian list of LNG importers that currently include Japan, South Korea, China, India, Taiwan, Pakistan, Thailand and Bangladesh.
Al-Sada noted that global LNG demand was expected to grow to about 314mn tonnes per year (tpy) by 2020 and to nearly 500mn tpy by 2030.
He said the “challenge” for the LNG industry at present was to “find a balance” between buyers’ pursuit of competitiveness and flexibility and producers’ need to maintain a healthy cash flow, out of the exploitation of their natural resources and to determine the viability of their projects.
The Energy Roundtable ended yesterday in Bangkok.
The three-day event was held under the theme “Global Energy Markets in Transition: From Vision to Action”.
The 6th edition of the Roundtable was held in Doha in 2015.
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