Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy, H E Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi with other panellists during the session, yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: Gas remains energy of future as global growth, Artificial Intelligence, and data centers drive demand.
Addressing the panel discussion entitled ‘Global LNG Dynamics: An Industry Perspective’ on the sidelines of 21stInternational Conference and Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG2026), yesterday Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy, H E Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said “We continue to believe in gas as the energy of the future and that increasing demand will continue to be driven by global economic growth and other factors like artificial intelligence and data centers.
The session also saw the participation of Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, Darren Woods, Executive Chair and CEO of ExxonMobil, Wael Sawan, CEO of Shell, and Ryan Lance, CEO of ConocoPhillips.
The plenary examined the evolving dynamics of global LNG demand and supply and provided a comprehensive perspective on key challenges and opportunities, with a particular focus on LNG affordability, security of supply, and reliability. It covered issues like the role of gas, LNG supplies, and sustainability.
“QatarEnergy, along with its partners represented on the panel, are building LNG for the future with the lowest carbon footprint you can have. Everywhere where you will see exploration blocks that are looking for oil or gas, you will find QatarEnergy working there,” Minister Al-Kaabi said.
The Minister highlighted the importance of demand in driving the LNG industry, while pointing out to Asian economies that are driving the main demand, he said “we must not forget the Middle East region, where gas is required in many parts as population growth requires additional power for continued growth that often comes from gas complemented by renewables.”
He further noted that politically driven and emotional calls by policymakers can’t solve our problems. “We need to also support the growth of economies around the world, and while realistic solutions can be made available many would say they are nice to have but will not be willing to pay for it,” he added.
“We are doing our best to develop and adopt the best technologies to reduce emissions, including CO2 sequestration in order to deliver the most affordable energy to the market in the most environmentally responsible manner. It is important for policymakers to be realistic about what can and cannot be delivered. They need to listen to the people who understand the business,” the Minister added.
Minister Al-Kaabi reaffirmed his long-stated position that ‘oil will be needed for a very long time’. He added that people who, two years ago, have been part of the oil cancel culture, are now recognising the need for oil and that it will not disappear in 2030 like they were saying.
He stressed that the world can’t live without energy. People need to be prosperous, including about a billion people don’t have the basic electricity that we enjoy. “We can’t deprive them from that growth,” he said.
