Middle East countries are on track to increase the share of gas in their energy mix although gas demand growth will slow down between 2014 and 2020, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest Medium Term Gas Market Report released 4 June.

The IEA sees annual Middle East gas demand rising by 80 bcm between 2014 and 2020, hitting 493 bcm/year by the latter date. Of the nine regions considered by the IEA, the Middle East’s growth is second only to China. But average annual growth of 3% is down from an average of 4.1% for the previous six years, partly because of a sharp reduction in the stellar demand growth notched up by Qatar in previous years. (CONTINUED - 1434 WORDS)