Rising AI power needs could turn LNG supply glut into a 2030 shortage, says QatarEnergy CEO

By Emily Chow, Yousef Saba and Andrew Mills

DOHA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Growing electricity demand from AI and data centres, together with rising fuel use in Asia and European gas needs could turn an expected global liquefied natural gas supply glut into a shortage by 2030, QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi said on Monday.

A record wave of LNG supply, coming online between 2026 and 2029, has raised concerns of a supply glut that could depress prices. Projects like Golden Pass LNG on the U.S. Gulf Coast and Qatar's North Field Expansion are expected to contribute sizable volumes to the new supply.

"We always thought the market would have some kind of oversupply between 2025-2030 (and) beyond 2030 you will have a shortage," Kaabi said, adding that demand expectations have increased "mainly due to... AI and data center requirements, which are sustained power requirements as a baseload".

"If all this pans out, I think there will be a shortage, instead of an oversupply by 2030,” he told the LNG2026 conference in Doha, referring also to Europe emerging as a major LNG buyer since ending Russian gas imports following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.