Qatargas may supply more liquefied natural gas to Japan, the firm's top executive said Wednesday, after the state-run company signed a contract to sell 1.2 million metric tons, or about 200,000 tons a year, of the supercooled fuel to Chubu Electric Power Co. (9502.TO) and Shizuokagas Co. (9543.TO).

Qatargas chief executive officer Khalid Bin Khalifa Al Thani told reporters in Doha that the company was talking to "other potential Japanese buyers" to supply even more LNG. He added that a total 10 million tons of LNG over the next two years has been committed to Japan since the country was struck by a devastating earthquake in March.

A huge earthquake, triggering a devastating tsunami, struck Japan in March damaging nuclear energy plants. As a result, the Asian country--already the world's largest importer of LNG--has purchased more of the liquid gas from Qatar to make up the shortfall in nuclear energy as reactors lie idle.

Qatar , holder of the world's third-largest natural gas reserves after Russia and Iran , is the world's biggest LNG exporter by far with capacity of about 77 million tons a year.

Al Thani declined to give any details about a potential debottlenecking process of Qatar 's LNG liquefaction terminals, which could increase their production capacity above current levels.

"I can't talk about it right now until we know the outcome of the moratorium" on the Gulf Arab state's giant North Field gas reservoir. Qatar won't lift a ban on further production at the field before 2015, a top official said earlier this week.

Under the terms of the latest contract, Chubu Electric and Shizuokagas will decide how to split the annual 200,000 tons of LNG, they said in a joint statement today. Qatargas will deliver the LNG in the six years from 2016.

Qatargas earlier this month said it had delivered its first LNG via Q-Max LNG carrier to China .

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