ABU DHABI:

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans not only to meet domestic demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG), but also to grow its exports, Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Monday.

Mazrouei said he agreed with Qatar’s energy minister that global demand for natural gas is outstripping investment in production projects.

“We intend not only to satisfy our local demand, but we are also growing our export of LNG. And I agree with his excellency Minister of Qatar, that the demand is going to be much, much more than the projects that we are seeing,” Mazrouei said on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Financial Week.

Qatar Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi stated on Saturday that global gas demand would remain strong, citing rising energy needs associated with artificial intelligence, and projected that LNG demand would reach 600-700 million tonnes per annum by 2035.

The international investment arm of the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), XRG, announced in June that it aims to have a gas and LNG business with a capacity of between 20 million and 25 million metric tonnes per year by 2035.