Qatargas CEO: LNG Output To Reach 77 Million Tons/Year By End Of 2010

Qatargas Operating Co. Ltd. will reach annual liquefied-natural-gas output of 77 million tons by the end of 2010, the company's chairman and chief executive said Tuesday.

The start-up of Qatargas's seventh train at Ras Laffan 3, which produces from Qatar's giant North Field, was pegged for early in the fourth quarter of 2010, Faisal Al-Suwaidi said on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference.

More importantly, the company could quickly add production capacity by removing bottlenecks once Qatar Petroleum lifts the current cap on output, Al-Suwaidi said.

"I believe that the moratorium will certainly be lifted one day," Al-Suwaidi said. Previous delays to Qatargas projects pushed back the timeline for the end to the production moratorium from 2007 or 2008 to 2014, the executive said.

Qatar Petroleum, Qatar's national oil company, wants to do additional evaluation of fields to make sure that the reservoirs can handle the additional output, Al-Suwaidi said.

Qatargas, however, would be able to boost output by at least 2 million tons annually at each of the company's six megatrains in a "short time," the executive said.

"It's certainly achievable," Al-Suwaidi said. "We could add 12 million tons per annum once we receive the green light from Qatar Petroleum in a short time."

-By Jeff Fick, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-7564-4503; [e-mail]