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As the economies of India and China continue to boom, demand on world energy supplies is inevitably growing. The CEO of Qatargas explains what this means for his company and the wider energy industry.

It is not greed, it is economics. It is supply-demand balance. I mean, yes, I guess you can call it greed but we call it economics!" Faisal Al Suwaidi, CEO of Qatargas, is amused by accusations of greed over his company's recent deal with PetroChina.

Some commentators have claimed that the company was aggressive in its price negotiations for the agreement to supply the economic powerhouse with liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the coming 25 years.

But even with the latest deal, Qatargas cannot even contemplate fulfilling all of China's LNG demands: "There is still more demand but unfortunately we will not be able to satisfy all of China's demand from one company. This is a fast-growing sector, especially for the hot economies of the world. China and India will have to import large quantities of gas."

There are two main reasons: "Firstly, they need to introduce this as part of their energy mix. Secondly, if they are to meet their Kyoto commitment, they will need to rely more on natural gas to reduce their emissions. For us, this is a new market."

It is not so much the producers as the markets that are driving the industry. As international oil prices have skyrocketed and the issue of climate change has risen in prominence, LNG has grown in popularity.

Much like the hybrid car, it forms a sort of halfway house between fossil fuel sources and alternative, renewable energy and can help to bring emissions down.

"This is a pretty clean type of energy," Al Suwaidi confirms: "Environmentally, I think people who'd like to meet their Kyoto targets will need to import or use natural gas as part of their energy mix."

"It's also more efficient."

It is cheaper (per thermal unit) than oil too. So why aren't we switching all of our energy requirements to this wonder fuel? Al Suwaidi is pragmatic: "I think that you will need all types of fuel to satisfy world demand in the future. I'm not sure that it's a question of competition anymore; it's a question of collaborating and making [sure] that we produce enough energy types to satisfy demand. It's more about working together."

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