The energy ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have claimed that the world will have a long-term demand for natural gas, and that more investment is necessary to assure supply security and affordable prices during the global energy transition.
Saad al-Kaabi, the state minister for energy of Qatar, noted at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Summit that a moderate winter in Europe had resulted in a decline in prices, but that volatility would persist “for some time to come” due to the lack of new gas supply until 2025.
“The issue is what’s going to happen when they (Europe) want to replenish their storages this coming year and the next year,” he said.
Later, Kaabi told reporters that Qatar, which is working to increase its gas production, has limited volumes destined for Europe that it would not divert: “but there is a limit to what we can do”
Qatar is one of the leading producers of liquefied natural gas in the globe (LNG). The United Arab Emirates is an OPEC oil producer that is focusing more on the gas market as Europe seeks to supplant Russian energy imports following supply cuts resulting from Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
The Qatari minister stated that he believed Russian gas would return to Europe in the future.
Speaking on the same panel in Abu Dhabi, UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei concurred that “for a very long time, gas will be there” and that more investment was required in gas as a base load.
“The whole world needs to think of resources and how to enable companies to produce more gas to make it available and affordable,” said Mazrouei.