Utilities

In the two decades since it first began exporting liquefied natural gas, Qatar’s economy and population has expanded rapidly, increasing demand for electricity and water. A report published in 2015 noted that the utilities sector accounts for most of Qatar’s natural gas consumption. From 2007 to 2017 the country’s annual consumption of natural gas doubled from 24bn cu metres to 47.4bn cu metres, according to BP’s “Statistical Review of World Energy 2018”. In 2018 the country set the goal of boosting annual LNG output by 43% to 110m tonnes by 2024, the demand for which is expected to surge in the medium term given a number of major infrastructure projects in the pipeline, including a metro rail network and the planned city of Lusail.