GPCA '06: Gulf gas reserves to grow - QP

DUBAI (ICIS news)--Natural gas reserves in the Gulf region are poised to grow as a result of increased gas development, a research strategist at Qatar Petroleum said on Saturday.

 

"The region has enormous gas potential not because of exploration activities but mainly due to increased development work," said Naji Abi-Aad, research strategist at Qatar Petroleum. He was speaking at the two-day GPCA conference.

 

The Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) region has proven gas reserves of around 41,480 cubic metres in 2006, which represents about 24% of the world's total proven gas reserves, he said.

 

Much of earlier exploration work had been focused on exploration of crude oil and less of natural gas, Abi-Aad said. But recently, the shift has been towards developing gas as demand for natural gas in the Gulf is set to grow by 7-10% by 2007 especially in the power generation sector and water desalination.

 

"Efforts are now aimed at developing non-associated gas fields in the region. In fact, this is happening right now in Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia," Abi-Aad said.