Qatar to boost gas output with new mega field expansion: minister

Qatar on Sunday announced new plans to expand output from the world’s biggest natural gas field, saying it will boost capacity to 142 million tonnes per year before 2030.

The new North Field expansion, named “North Field West”, will add a further 16 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year to existing expansion plans, Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said at a press conference.

“Recent studies have shown that the North Field contains huge additional gas quantities estimated at 240 trillion cubic feet, which raises the state of Qatar’s gas reserves from 1,760 (trillion) to more than 2,000 trillion cubic feet,” said Kaabi, who also heads the state-owned QatarEnergy firm.

These results “will enable us to begin developing a new LNG project from the North Field’s western sector with a production capacity of about 16 million tonnes per annum,” he said.

This will bring Qatar’s production capacity to 142 million tons once “the new expansion is completed before the end of this decade” — a nearly 85 percent rise from current production levels, Kaabi added.