Qatar's train 5 gas unit is due to start producing in the coming weeks, chief executive of Qatar Gas Faisal Al-Suwaidi said on Monday.

"We have finished commissioning on train 5, for a start up in the next two to three weeks," he told reporters.

Al-Suwaidi said that Qatar was not concerned by falling demand for gas and expected it to rebound.

"We think the market will pick up very soon, we're bullish," he said "There is no issue around this."   

Qatar gas train 4 was producing at over 90 percent he told reporters.

Al-Suwaidi was asked if Qatar was slowing down production in response to weak demand and prices: "No, we are on full blast for 77 million tonnes per year in 2010," he replied.

Al-Suwaidi said that while Qatar's LNG capacity will reach 77 million tonnes per year in 2010, that level of actual production probably would not be reached until the end of 2011 as it would take around a year for output to be ramped up.

This was the reason why some officials had given a later date for full completion of Qatar's LNG capacity expansion, he said.

Qatar's current LNG capacity stands at 39 million tonnes per year, Oil Minister Abdullah Al-Attiyah said at the same event, the ceremonial signing of a supply deal with Poland agreed in April.

By the end of this year Qatar's capacity should rise to over 60 million tonnes per year, he added.

Al-Suwaidi was asked if he was concerned by falling sales due to the economic downturn. "We don't really have an issue with that, we have built enough shipping and enough terminal capacity to be able to move the gas," he said. - Reuters