By:Zawya

DUBAI: Qatar's North Field East natural gas expansion project will begin production in mid-2026, QatarEnergy Chief Executive Saad al-Kaabi said in a statement on Tuesday.

Kaabi told Reuters in late 2023 that production at the North Field expansion will begin in 2026 with new trains coming online "every few months", without specifying an exact start-up time.

State-owned QatarEnergy has signed a string of supply deals with European and Asian partners in its massive North Field expansion project, which is expected to produce 126 million metric tons of LNG per annum (mtpa) by 2027, up from 77 mtpa now.

The QatarEnergy statement on Tuesday did not say when full capacity would be reached.

QatarEnergy will begin exports from the U.S. when the Golden Pass project comes online at the end of this year, the statement said.

When LNG projects come online is closely watched by the market as several projects face delays.