Qatar’s energy minister foresees LNG supply issues by 2035

Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and CEO of QatarEnergy, expressed his concerns about the potential future shortages in liquefied natural gas (LNG) and natural gas supplies while giving a speech at the Doha Forum. 

While he did not outrightly claim that AI alone would use up all the world’s LNG by 2035, he did link the possibility to two factors, which include the surging energy demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and chronic underinvestment in new production capacity. 

Qatar’s energy minister foresees LNG supply issues by 2035

Qatar’s energy minister has expressed worry that a lack of investment and the surge in energy use from AI will create a shortage of LNG and natural gas supplies beyond 2035.

This is because of the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and accelerated global electricity needs, especially from data centers that have proven themselves to be energy blackholes. 

This boosts demand for natural gas as a reliable “bridge fuel” for generation, which is why al-Kabbi forecasted LNG demand could reach 600–700 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2035, up from around 400 mtpa today, with much of it driven by growth in energy-intensive AI. 

“There’s underinvestment, and if that doesn’t happen in the next five to six years, we will have issues in 2035,” al-Kaabi said at the Doha Forum in the Qatari capital on Saturday, while expressing concern that a lack of investment will trigger a spike in LNG and natural gas prices. “Every country we talk to has 10% to 20% of their demand coming from AI.” 

With the capacity in the oil market, he sees the global economic slowdown as the biggest problem for crude prices.

An oil price of between $70-$80 a barrel is ideal in order to fund required infrastructure investments, al-Kaabi said. 

In the meantime, Qatar, which is the world’s top LNG exporter, will continue to aggressively expand its North Field to add capacity so it can deal with increasing demand. However, al-Kaabi has warned that global hesitation, sponsored by energy transition uncertainties and regulatory hurdles, might not be able to keep pace with demand.

Despite his concerns, al-Kaabi is still very optimistic about LNG being a cleaner alternative to coal and has noted Qatar’s continued commitment to carbon capture and sequestration. 

The IEA agrees with al-Kaabi 

The International Energy Agency (IEA) published its World Energy Outlook in November, in which it echoed al-Kaabi’s sentiments regarding LNG. 

In the official document, the IEA projected global LNG trade to grow from 560 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2024 to 880 bcm by 2035 and to 1,020 billion cubic meters by 2050, due to rising power sector demand driven by data center and AI growth. 

It highlighted how new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects surged in 2025, with about 300 billion cubic meters of new annual LNG export capacity expected to start operation by 2030 — a 50% increase. About half of that new capacity is being built in the United States, and an additional 20% in Qatar. 

In the Current Policy Scenario, most of the new LNG is expected to go to China and Europe, which may mean that the European Union will have to get rid of its methane emissions regulation if it wants to keep the lights of businesses on and its citizens warm. 

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