News
02/02/26
Qatar sees LNG demand accelerating on AI, Europe pivot
Qatar sees LNG demand accelerating on AI, Europe pivot
Doha, 2 February (Argus) — QatarEnergy expects global LNG demand to rise faster
and last longer than previously anticipated, driven by artificial intelligence
(AI), data centres and Europe's structural pivot away from Russian supply,
Qatar's energy minister and QatarEnergy's chief executive, Saad Sherida
al-Kaabi, said. Speaking at the LNG2026 conference in Doha, Al-Kaabi said
QatarEnergy has expanded aggressively in LNG on the conviction that gas demand
will not only endure but accelerate, with expectations revised higher in recent
years as power demand from AI and digital infrastructure emerges. This follows
other LNG sellers pivoting their growth market focus over the past year away
from southeast Asian demand and coal to gas switching and towards power-demand
driven by AI. "The expectation of demand going forward has increased," al-Kaabi
said. "Not only because of economic growth, but now with AI and data centre
requirements, which are sustained, baseload power requirements. That has stepped
up the need for gas much more than we thought in the past." QatarEnergy is
positioning itself to meet that demand through scale, shipping flexibility and
trading optionality, as Europe cements its role as a long-term LNG market
following the loss of Russian pipeline gas. QatarEnergy is expanding its LNG
capacity from 77mn t/yr to 126mn t/yr by 2027 and is developing a global LNG
portfolio that includes about 18mn t/yr at the US' Golden Pass LNG export
terminal . QatarEnergy also expects to operate a fleet of about 200 LNG vessels
by 2035, allowing it to redirect cargoes across regions and arbitrage between
markets, al-Kaabi said. "That gives us flexibility, durability and longevity of
supply for our customers around the world," he added. Europe as a target market
Europe's emergence as a structural LNG buyer is reshaping long-term market
balances, with QatarEnergy increasingly targeting the region alongside Asian
demand growth. EU ministers on 26 January formally adopted a regulation to phase
out imports of Russian pipeline gas and LNG. Al-Kaabi said QatarEnergy always
expected a period of market looseness in the second half of the 2020s, but
warned that rising power demand could tighten balances sooner than many
forecasts suggest. "We always thought there would be some oversupply between
2025 and 2030, and a shortage beyond that," he said. "But with what we are
seeing in Europe, AI, data centres and demand in Asia, that oversupply could
turn into a shortage by 2030." He also pointed to China and India as core demand
anchors, with India looking to raise the gas share of its energy mix from about
6–7pc towards 15pc, alongside rising demand across southeast Asia and Japan,
where data centres are becoming a major driver of baseload power needs. Energy
mix Al-Kaabi also pushed back against earlier calls to phase out hydrocarbons,
saying recent years have exposed a gap between policy rhetoric and physical
energy realities. "A few years ago, some organisations were talking about a
‘cancel culture' for oil and saying demand would disappear by 2030," he said.
"Those voices have disappeared. You need oil, you need gas and you need
electricity for a very long time." Al-Kaabi added that even they, in Qatar, are
looking for additional oil locally or through exploration licences abroad. "Oil
is going to be needed for a very, very long time," he said. Al-Kaabi said that
electrification alone cannot meet global energy needs, noting that
petrochemicals, transport fuels and aviation will continue to rely on liquids
for decades. "Gasoline, coal and jet fuel will not disappear any time soon," he
said. On climate policy, al-Kaabi said engagement with European regulators has
become more pragmatic, particularly around corporate sustainability and
due-diligence rules, but warned against policies detached from commercial and
technical realities. "If you put in place legislation that is theoretical and
not workable, it damages the final consumer," he said. "If you penalise us, it
passes through to the European customer." QatarEnergy remains committed to
lowering emissions through carbon capture, efficiency gains and technology, he
said, but argued that energy security, affordability and decarbonisation must
advance together. QatarEnergy is expanding its carbon capture and sequestration
capacity, targeting CO2 capture of 9mn t/yr by 2030 and 11mn–13mn t/yr by 2035,
as part of efforts to lower the emissions intensity of its LNG supply. But
Al-Kaabi warned that large-scale deployment of low-carbon fuels and carbon
abatement technologies remains constrained by high costs. "Blue and green
products need a premium, and today nobody is willing to pay for it," he said.
"We need energy addition, not slogans." By Bachar Halabi and Irfan Jaafar Send
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