Qatar on Sunday advanced plans to increase the country’s LNG production capacity by 85% from current levels, upping a bet that more natural gas will be needed as progress at other liquefaction projects appears to slow.

CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, of state-owned QatarEnergy, said an appraisal program had determined that the productive layers of the country’s massive North Field extend towards the west. Testing confirmed that 240 Tcf of additional gas reserves are present, boosting Qatar’s overall gas reserves to more than 2,000 Tcf.

“These are very important results of great dimensions that will take Qatar’s gas industry to new horizons,” Al-Kabbi said. He added that the additional reserves would allow the company to move forward with the 16 million metric tons/year...