Fta's and Trading Patterns in Natural Gas in GCC Countries

The World Natural Gas market is assuming growing importance in the coming years. Looking at past trends, we can see that world wide natural gas use has grown remarkably over the last three decades, registering an annual average growth rate of 2.7%. Before the oil price boom of 1973, not much attention was given to gas and it used to be flared off. Between 1978-98, the natural gas showed an uninterrupted, rapid pace of growth - the only fossil fuel to do so. Its annual average growth reached 3.4% between 1978-98 period. Natural Gas use almost doubled in absolute terms increasing by 810 million tones of oil from 1,139 m ton in 1978 to 1,949 m ton in 1998. Its share in the world primary energy rose to 21% in 1998