MANAMA Qatar and Bahrain recently signed a protocol for cooperation in oil and gas, including possible export of Qatari gas to the island state, a Bahraini oil official said.

Qatar's Energy and Industry Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah signed the deal in Manama with Bahrain's Oil Minister Sheikh Isa bin Ali al-Khalifa.

"The protocol puts the general principles for the two countries' relations in oil and gas, and calls for the forming of a joint committee to draw the basics for any commercial agreement between them," the official told Reuters.

The official said Qatar was seeking buyers for its huge gas reserves and that Bahrain might import gas from Doha if the conditions are suitable.

"No final agreement has been reached and the matter is still in its very early stage," the official said.

The official said Bahrain and Kuwait might buy a total of between 500 million and one billion cubic feet per day of Qatar's gas. "Kuwait is in more need of gas than Bahrain," the official added.

Sheikh Isa proposed Qatari-Bahraini gas deal was part of a plan by Persian Gulf Arab states to establish a gas grid between the six-nation alliance.