German builder Bilfinger Berger is considering pulling out of Qatar due to a disagreement with local construction authority Ashgal on its Doha roadway project, its chief executive said.

'The bad experience with the Doha project prompts us to reconsider our commitments in the Gulf region,' Bilfinger Berger chief executive Herbert Bodner was quoted as saying in a report in our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News.

A spokesman said Bilfinger, which is not active in Dubai, had already been considering moving its business out of the region prior to credit problems at Dubai World and Nakheel.

The spokesman said Bodner also had already publicly stated it was considering an exit.

Ashgal and Bilfinger are embroiled in a legal dispute over a six km road construction project in Doha which is running a long way behind schedule.