Qatar has brought forward by 10 years its plan to produce 24 billion standard cubic feet (scf) of gas per day starting in 2010, a downstream executive for the country's state-owned oil company said.

Speaking at an industry conference, Ali Hassan Al Sidiky, director of downstream ventures for Qatar Petroleum, said the country currently produces 10-11 billion scf per day.
The Gulf country had originally targeted output of 24 billion scf per day, starting in 2020.
Qatar is stepping up its production of gas because of increasing local consumption, a rise in exports to neighboring UAE and an increase in LNG processing.
Al Sidiky also said that Qatar's recent decision to delay some gas-to-liquids, or GTL, projects is attributable to the need to manage increased production of gas.
But, Al Sidiky clarified that the LNG plants and GTL projects that are closest to completion would not be postponed. He said the Oryx 1 project, operated by Sasol Ltd (SSL), will start up early next year as scheduled.
The Pearl project, led by Royal Dutch/Shell Group, will enter production as planned in the second quarter of 2009.