Arab gas exports soar by 54%

Arab gas exports have jumped by more than 54 per cent over the past four years and the bulk of the increase has come from Qatar, according to official data.

From 104.8 billion cubic metres in 2004, the Arab region's total gas exports soared to 161.9 billion cubic metres in 2008, an increase of 54.4 per cent, the 11-nation Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (Oapec) said in its 2009 statistical report.

But the increase has not been matched by growth in proven Arab gas reserves, which remained unchanged at 53.7 trillion cubic metres.

The report showed Algeria was the largest Arab gas exporter in 2008, with its exports of 59.4 billion cubic metres, mostly to Europe, accounting for more than a third of the total Arab gas sales.

But its exports have remained unchanged during 2004-2008 while those by Qatar jumped from 24.1 billion cubic metres to 56.8 billion cubic metres.

Egypt was the third largest Arab gas exporter in 2008, with around 16.9 billion cubic metres. It was followed by Oman and Libya, with exports of nearly 10.9 billion and 10.4 billion cubic metres respectively. The UAE ranked fifth, with its gas exports standing at 7.5 billion cubic metres last year.

The report showed Qatar was the top Arab exporter of gas by tankers, with 39.7 billion cubic metres. The rest are transported via pipelines, mostly to the UAE through their Dolphin joint venture.

Algeria's gas exports by tankers stood at 21.9 billion cubic metres while those of Egypt, Oman and the UAE totalled 14.1 billion, 10.9 billion and 7.5 billion.

The figures showed the remaining Arab oil producers do not export gas, mainly Saudi Arabia, which has the world's fourth largest recoverable gas deposits after those in Russia, Iran and Qatar.

But the kingdom, the dominant oil exporter in the world, ranks among the top regional states in terms of marketed gas as most of its output is sold locally.

Qatar, which controls nearly 15 per cent of the world's proven gas resources, is set to dominate the gas export trade in the region as it is pushing ahead with mega projects to tap its mammoth North Field.

The tiny Gulf Opec nation produced nearly 30 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2008 and output could surpass 50 million tonnes this year as new major production trains have been installed. By the end of 2011, Qatar is expected to produce 77 million tonnes of liquefied gas to maintain its position as the world's largest LNG supplier.

According to official estimates, the North Field that houses the world's largest gas reservoir has more than 900 trillion cubic feet of proven gas resources, which could last nearly 107 years at present output levels.

Qatar launched LNG projects in early 1990s to tap its North Field, which straddles 6,000 square kilometres of Qatari and Iranian water in the Gulf and is believed to be the world's largest single reservoir of non-associated gas.

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has approved QR222.7 billion (Dh224.68bn) for its oil and gas development scheme during 2008-2012 to bring to the total capital pumped into the North Field and other hydrocarbon projects to more than QR500bn.

About QR104bn will be pumped into refining and gas-to-liquids (GTL) projects while the natural gas sector will receive nearly QR63bn. Allocations included QR25bn for industries, QR19.7bn for crude oil and QR11bn for petrochemicals.

The North Field was discovered in 1971. Its gas reserves are equivalent to nearly 162 billion barrels of oil, accounting for nearly 14 per cent of the world's total extractable crude resources, according to QP.

Other key LNG producers in the region are Oman, the UAE and Egypt while Yemen has just completed a gas liquefaction facility.

Oapec's figures showed the combined Arab gas reserves stood at 53.7 trillion cubic metres at the end of 2008, 30 per cent of the world's total proven gas wealth of 177 trillion cubic metres.

Qatar controlled almost half the Arab gas potential, with more than 25 trillion cubic metres.

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