78
39
th
Annual Report
OAPEC member countries accounted for 97% of the Arab
countries total consumption of natural gas in 2012. Other Arab
countries consumed small amounts of natural gas, this consumption
is concentrated mainly in three countries, namely : Oman, Jordan,
and Morocco.
There is a noticeable disparity between member countries in terms
of their reliance on natural gas. Two groups of countries may be
identified:
First group
•
: Countries that depend heavily on natural gas to meet
over 50% of their energy requirements. Six countries fall into
this category: Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria,
Egypt and Kuwait. The share of natural gas in total energy
consumption in 2012 was 88% in Bahrain, 84.6% in Qatar, 78%
in the United Arab Emirates, 59.9% in Algeria, 53% in Egypt and
51.6% in Kuwait.
Second group
•
: Countries that depend on natural gas to meet
less than 50% of their energy needs. The five member countries
in this group are Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Syria, Libya and Iraq.
The share of natural gas in the total energy consumption of these
countries in 2012 was, 43.2% in Saudi Arabia, 34.3% in Tunisia,
26.6% in Syria, 20.8% in Libya and 19.8% in Iraq.
The Arab countries accounted for 9.9% of world natural gas
consumption in 2011, while the OECD countries took a 47.7% share,
the Rest of Developing Countries 23.8%, and the FSU countries
18.8%, as shown in
Figure (1-19)
.
