Mideast states power up their gas priorities

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar are ploughing resources into gas—with a growing eye on facilitating domestic use in power and value-added sectors

Natural gas has moved to the forefront of Saudi Arabia’s energy policy as policymakers look to end the inefficient and financially wasteful burning of crude oil in its power generation system by replacing it with domestically produced gas. Under its Vision 2030 programme, Saudi Arabia is looking at a 50/50 split in future power sector use between gas and low-carbon energy sources. That would remove more than 1m b/d of liquids consumed in its power system, freeing up more crude for export. It would also limit the peak summer season increase in high-sulphur fuel oil consumption. Joint Organizations Data Initiative statistics show that direct oil burn averaged 943,000b/d in H1 2025, which remai