The Persian Gulf state will award final contracts for onshore work on the North Field by the end of the year, he said Tuesday in a Bloomberg TV interview in London.

Qatar, the biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, is expanding the North Field in its drive to boost gas output to 110 million tons per year by 2024 from about 77 million currently. Australia will likely overtake Qatar as an LNG exporter in 2020, according to an Australian government report.

“In the first quarter, we would have secured all the contracts for construction to start production in 2024,” said Al-Kaabi, who also serves as president and chief executive officer of state-run Qatar Petroleum. “We have a select few that we have invited to give us bids.”