Mubasher: Qatar's Energy and Industry Minister Mohammed Saleh Al Sada forecast that world’s natural gas consumption will see a 2% increase per year, rising to 50% in the coming two decades.

Natural gas will become the world’s key source of clean fuel on the back of its importance for the economic development, as well as addressing the environmental concerns, Al Sada said.

 He highlighted that liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand will outstrip natural gas demand in the next 20 years, expecting  that LNG demand is to reach 600 million tonnes per year in the future, compared to 260 million tonnes now.

Qatar's energy minister affirmed that LNG supply will amount to 400 million tonnes in the coming period in a bid to keep pace with the resurgent gas demand. However, the markets might suffer a shortage as of 2025 due to the scarcity of expected LNG projects over the next decade, he said.

Qatar seeks to ramp up LNG production by one third to 100 tonnes per year by 2024 in a bid to top its peers across the world, according to the Qatari minister.