UAE Natural Gas Demand Set for 50% Surge, Unlocking Major Investment Opportunities
The Middle East’s natural gas sector requires an estimated $200 billion (Dh734 billion) in investment over the next four years to keep pace with explosive regional demand, driven significantly by the UAE’s rapid economic diversification and the explosive growth of power-hungry artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, industry leaders announced at the Middle East Gas Conference.
Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum, revealed that gas demand in the UAE and the wider region has tripled over the past two decades and is projected to grow by an additional 50% in the next five years alone. To meet this, regional gas production must grow by 30% by 2030, requiring the addition of 14 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of new supply—a volume equivalent to the entire gas demand of Europe’s power sector.
A key theme of the conference was the emergence of data centers and AI as major new pillars of gas demand. Delegates highlighted that the UAE’s and Saudi Arabia’s ambitious plans to become global AI hubs are creating unprecedented need for reliable, baseload power. industrial development, and enabling the clean energy transition.”
With demand soaring and a clear investment roadmap laid out, the UAE and the wider Middle East are poised for a transformative expansion of their natural gas sector, fueling both traditional industries and the digital economy of the future.
