Qatar announced on Sunday that it will raise the country鈥檚 liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity to 142 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) before the end of this decade, boosting production by close to 85% from current levels.
The extensive drilling confirmed at the Gulf nation's giant North Field鈥檚 productive layers stretch further west, allowing for the development of a new LNG production project in Ras Laffan, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Qatari energy minister and CEO of state-owned QatarEnergy, said in a press conference in Doha.
鈥淨atarEnergy has focused its efforts and attention on determining how far west the North Field鈥檚 productive layers extend in order to evaluate the production potential from those areas,鈥� Al-Kaabi said, according to a statement from the company.
The project is called 鈥淣orth Field West,鈥� he added.
Noting the presence of huge additional gas quantities in the North Field estimated at 240 trillion cubic feet, Al-Kaabi said this raises Qatar鈥檚 gas reserves from 1,760 trillion cubic feet to more than 2,000 trillion cubic feet and the condensates reserves from 70 billion barrels to more than 80 billion barrels, in addition to large quantities of liquefied petroleum gas, ethane, and helium.
鈥淭hese are very important results of great dimensions that will take Qatar鈥檚 gas industry to new horizons, as they will enable us to begin developing a new LNG project from the North Field鈥檚 western sector with a production capacity of about 16 mtpa,鈥� he said.
鈥淨atar's total LNG production will reach about 142 mtpa when this new expansion is completed before the end of this decade,鈥� he said.
鈥淭his represents an increase of almost 85% compared to current production levels,鈥� he explained. 鈥淲ith the completion of this project, the State of Qatar鈥檚 total hydrocarbon production will exceed 7.25 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.鈥�
The announcement by Qatar, among the world鈥檚 top LNG suppliers, came after US President Joe Biden announced the administration鈥檚 decision on Jan. 26 to temporarily pause all pending approvals of LNG exports amid climate change concerns.
By Handan Kazanci鈥�
Anadolu Agency
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