The Middle East's Once-Hot LNG Market Faces a Decade-Long Slump - Bloomberg

The Middle East's Once-Hot LNG Market Faces a Decade-Long Slump - Bloomberg:

The Middle East was a bright spot for global liquefied natural gas demand in 2015. Now imports have plummeted so much that it could take a decade to recover.

Last year’s 37 percent slump and the prolonged negative outlook is in contrast to the region’s two-year LNG demand surge that outpaced global growth, according to BloombergNEF and ship-broker Poten & Partners Inc. data. The Middle East is now expected to make up less than 4 percent of global imports for at least eight years.

There are only five importers -- Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Israel -- of LNG in the Middle East. Bahrain is expected to join the group this year.