Qatar exported about 80mn tonnes (mmt) of LNG (liquefied natural gas) during 2025, with Asian countries serving as the primary destination, according to Kamco Invest, a regional economic thinktank.
China, India, and South Korea were the top three importers of Qatari LNG, Kamco said in its latest report.
During 2025, Qatar, the world’s leading LNG exporter, had awarded a $4bn EPCI (engineering, procurement, construction, and installation contract to a consortium led by Italian and Chinese contractors.
“This award is part of a strategic drive to meet its expanding LNG output targets,” the report said.
In the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) region, Aramco had commenced natural gas production at the Jafurah field, the world’s largest shale gas development outside of the US.
“This step underlines a major shift in global natural gas production as Saudi Arabia pivots to scale its unconventional resources and expand its domestic supply,” the report said.
It is expected that natural gas from Jafurah will primarily be consumed within Saudi Arabia itself, utilised mainly as fuel for power generation.
The Jafurah gas field is estimated to contain approximately 200tn cubic feet (tcf) of gas, equivalent to 5.7tn cubic metres (tcm).
Current production stands at 450mn cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), or 0.01bn cubic metres per day (bcm/d), with plans to increase output to 2bn cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), equivalent to 0.06bcm/d.
According to the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, total natural gas consumption for a group of major gas-consuming nations, representing approximately 75% of global demand, increased by 1.6% year-over-year (y-o-y) to reach 2,902bn cubic metres (bcm) for the initial ten months of 2025.
Contextually, natural gas consumption rose in key regions including North America and the EU (European Union), whereas, by contrast, consumption declined within the Asia region during the same period.
Overall global natural gas consumption is slated to average a growth rate of 1.5% throughout 2025, a consequence of subdued activity in the industrial sector.
For comparison, global natural gas production is projected to see a marginally higher growth rate than consumption, at 1.7% in 2025, as per the GECF.
The majority of this additional global gas production is predominantly driven by increased output from the North American region.
Conversely, natural gas production within the Asia region is forecast to decrease in 2025.
Highlighting that global natural gas price movements were stable but mixed during the year; Kamco said towards the end of the year, according to the World Bank, the US average monthly natural gas price for December 2025 surged by 40.6% y-o-y to $4.25/MMBtu, attributable to factors such as a polar vortex event, i.e., extreme cold weather.
In contrast, European natural gas prices for December 2025 declined by 31.6% y-o-y, averaging $9.48/MMBtu for the month, primarily due to a global increase in LNG supply particularly from the USA which outpaced demand and mitigated concerns regarding relatively low storage levels.
