Although the Asiatic states have taken a early foothold in the liquefied production of gas reserves and Russia has cottoned on to its export potential, the Middle East still holds the upper hand with an overwhelming superiority in estimated untapped reserves of natural gas.

Qatar may be at the smaller end of the OPEC oil producers with an average of 661,000bopd over the last five years, with reserves estimated to be around 15.2 billion barrels, yet it has by far the region's largest gas reserves.

Qatar's North Field is currently the largest non-associated gas field in the world, with proven reserves currently estimated at over 900 trillion cubic feet (tcf), a figure that puts the combined resources of Indonesia, Australia and the United States to shame and represents 15.3% of the world's total reserves.

These reserves are thought to be enough to support planned production for over 200 years, prompting the government and its foreign partners to pump at least $15 billion into LNG ventures.

The state's Ministry of Energy and Industry has already moved to liberalise foreign ownership rules, setting the stage for foreign investors to have 100% ownership in ventures they launch in Qatar.

Two major LNG projects with foreign shareholders have already been developed by Qatar Petroleum to exploit North Field gas for exports and more than $US25bn has been planned for investment into gas and expansions.

The proposed developments will nearly double the country's LNG output to around 30 million tonnes in 2010 and turn Qatar into the world's top LNG exporter.