Qatari Minister of Energy Saad al-Kaabi said that his country will sign record volumes of long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) offtake contracts in 2023, Reuters reported.

This came during his speech at the LNG conference held in Vancouver.

He added that Qatar is expected to provide 40% of the new global LNG by 2029 noting that the country approved expansion projects, in 2022, that will boost its LNG output by 64% to 126 million tons per year by 2027.

“Some people say by 2050 you do not need gas anymore. I say you need more gas. You need gas as a baseline to support wind and solar since the sun does not shine all the time and the wind does not blow all the time,” said al-Kaabi.

Al-Kaabi said that this 40% estimate was based on Qatar’s domestic LNG production in addition to the U.S. joint venture with Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) which will add between 16 and 18 million tons per annum (MTPA) when complete.

He said that prices that QatarEnergy agreed with the customers “is fair and sustainable” for both parties, al-Kaabi said.