Saudi Arabia is discussing the possibility of having one interconnected natural gas grid in the region that would exchange gas and export the kingdom’s gas to its neighbours, the UAE, Kuwait, and Oman. That is according to Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih.

“I am talking to my colleagues in Oman, Kuwait, UAE, about extending a gas grid in the region and we hope to exchange gas... we also have excess of gas which we will be exporting,” Al-Falih has been quoted as saying at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi on 15 January.

Saudi Arabia has tasked state energy giant Aramco with developing the kingdom’s conventional and unconventional gas resources, as it seeks to improve its overall production in a bid to supply gas to its regional allies.

“We’ve already exported gas on a commercial basis to the UAE, so more of this interconnection in energy is going to take place and, importantly, also in trading of know-how in technology and development with renewables,” Al-Falih was quoted as saying.

“This [proposed] network is a part of greater connectivity between regional economies,” Al-Falih said.

“We plan to lift the whole region of the Middle East and Africa (MEA) through shared investment and resources,” he added.

Riyadh is also looking to boost its gas and renewables output to free up more than 600,000 barrels a day of crude oil burnt to produce power, for exporting to customers globally.