DUBAI - QatarEnergy is due to make an announcement on Sunday that will have "significant" impact on the industry, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

"The announcement will have significant impact and is of importance to the industry," the source said.

Already one of the world's largest exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG), QatarEnergy has signed a string of supply deals with European and Asian partners for gas it will produce as it expands its North Field.

Those plans call for six LNG trains that will ramp up Qatar's liquefaction capacity to 126 million metric tons per year by 2027 from 77 million but even more expansion is possible.

CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters in December the company was drilling wells to assess further opportunities and that if more capacity was technically viable, further expansion would be carried out.

QatarEnergy's invitation to press sent out on Thursday said only that "a very important announcement" would be made at an event in Doha.

Qatar's North Field is part of the world's largest gas field which Qatar shares with Iran. Iran calls its share the South Pars.

(Reporting by Maha El Dahan and Andrew Mills; editing by Jason Neely)