The balance between natural gas supply and demand in the Mena region will be the focus for an upcoming gas distribution summit in Abu Dhabi.

Organised by Fleming Gulf Conferences, the third annual Mena Natural Gas Distribution Summit will take place from March 5 to 12, 2012.

“The domestic demand for gas is growing at around 10 per cent per annum, compared with an average world rate of around 6-7 per cent; world oil demand, meanwhile, is growing at a fairly pedestrian 2 per cent per annum,” said Yousuf Omair Bin Yousuf, secretary general of the Supreme Council for Oil and CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).

“On these current trends Abu Dhabi is set to become one of the world’s largest gas producers,” he added.

Although there is an inevitable expected growth in natural gas, UAE is facing shortages in gas supply. This shortage exceeds up to more than one billion cubic feet per day.

Reasons for this imbalance include pipeline leakages and recent increase in pipeline accidents, increasing natural gas prices and regulations in export and import, among others.

Also, countries in the Middle East region that are in the process of developing their gas reserves, are now experiencing development issues.

The conference will address these distribution efficiencies, the organisers said. – TradeArabia News Service