Qatar Will Start Sending LNG From The World’s Biggest Gas Field By Mid-2026

BY THE ARAB TODAY May 21, 2025

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Qatar Will Start Sending LNG From The World’s Biggest Gas Field By Mid-2026

Qatar will start sending out liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its North Field East project, the biggest natural gas field in the world, in the middle of 2026, said QatarEnergy, the country’s main oil company, on Tuesday.

LNG Export Timelines

Qatar’s project, which goes into Iranian waters, will increase its gas production a lot. The goal is to produce 142 million tons of LNG each year by 2030. The North Field South and North Field West parts of the project will be finished by the end of the decade.

Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi, who also leads QatarEnergy, talked about the schedule at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Tuesday. He said there is strong demand for LNG from Asian countries like China, Japan, and South Korea. Europe is also interested because the war in Ukraine has caused problems with Russian gas supplies.

Qatar has signed many long-term LNG contracts in recent years with big companies like TotalEnergies, Shell, Eni, and India’s Petronet. Some of these deals last 27 years. One record deal was made with China’s Sinopec in 2022.

Al-Kaabi said Qatar has strong energy ties with China, its biggest LNG buyer, and is negotiating to sell more gas to China and India.

Calls for Investment

Al-Kaabi said it is very important to invest in energy projects worldwide to keep production steady and add more reserves. He said oil prices need to stay between $70 and $80 per barrel to keep production going and avoid shortages.

At the forum, the minister said global energy demand is growing because the world’s population is increasing and one billion people still don’t have basic electricity. “The need for electricity is very big. We are not worried about having too much supply,” he said.

He also talked about QatarEnergy’s work exploring for energy in different countries and investing in new projects.