Without a shift in the region's gas-pricing regime, Middle East producers will struggle to keep up with consumption, writes James Gavin

THE MIDDLE East has become one of the world's busiest gas markets. Last year, production was up by more than in any other global region. The Middle East showed a 6.3% increase in natural gas production to 381.1bn cubic metres (cm), compared with a global average increase of 3.8%, according to BP's Statistical review of world energy (see Figure 1).

Much of this increase is the result of the start-up of various Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains. Gas supply from the Gulf state increased by 20.9% last year, as the country heads towards its 77m tonnes a year (t/y) LNG output target by 2012. Outside Qatar, the region's main gas producers – Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia – experienced only slight output increases, or even – in Abu Dhabi's case – a small decline.

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