The CEO of QatarEnergy, one of the world's biggest liquefied natural gas producers, told Reuters on Monday that the company's massive North Field expansion project will produce its first LNG in the second half of 2026.
The state-owned company said in May that first production at the field, which according to CEO Saad al-Kaabi was originally planned for the end of this year, would begin in mid-2026. Al-Kaabi attributed any delays to slowdowns related to Covid restrictions earlier this decade, and not to geopolitical tensions.
"I'm still looking at somewhere in mid-2026, in the third, fourth quarter 26 maximum," Kaabi said in an interview on the sidelines of the annual ADIPEC energy conference.
"It's looking quite positive. I think we are on track to meet that date. With these huge projects, it can move up and down a few months, but that's basically the range we're looking at."
When at full production, the North Field expansion project is expected to produce 126 million tonnes of LNG per annum by 2027, boosting QatarEnergy's output by some 85 per cent from its current 77 mtpa.
The project involves the construction of six industrial units that cool natural gas into liquid form for export by ship, which are commonly known as gas trains. Production will begin when the first train is operational, Kaabi said.
QatarEnergy has not said when full production would be reached. Qatar said in June that an Israeli strike on Iran's portion of the shared gas field, some 200 kilometres (124 miles) from QatarEnergy's installations, was a reckless move.
(Reporting by Maha El Dahan; Writing by Andrew Mills; Editing by David Goodman and Jan Harvey)
