QatarEnergy's announcement to expand the North Field West project will further raise Qatar’s LNG production capacity to 142 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) before the end of this decade, representing an increase of almost 85 per cent from current production levels.

Saad Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said extensive appraisal drilling and testing have confirmed that productive layers of Qatar’s giant North Field extend towards the west, which allows for developing a new LNG production project in Ras Laffan.

Al-Kaabi also announced the presence of huge additional gas quantities in the North Field estimated at 240 trillion cubic feet (tcf), which raises the State of Qatar’s gas reserves to more than 2,000 tcf.