Ras Gas

Ras Laffan Condensate Refining Capacity to be Doubled
By http://www.theenergyinfo.com/NewsDetails.aspx?ID=2923

Qatar is developing its second condensate refinery at Ras Laffan, which is expected to commence production by 2015, HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada has said.

This will double the condensate refining capacity at Ras Laffan to about 300,000 bpd by 2015, he said.
QP’s senior project development engineer Abdulaziz al-Kuwari said Qatar would award contracts this year for building the 147,000 bpd condensate refinery.

Ras Laffan is home to one of the world’s largest condensate refineries- Laffan Refinery, which is capable of producing 9,000 bpd of LPG, 60,000 bpd of naphtha 50,000 bpd of jet fuel, and 24,000 bpd of gas oil.

“Doubling condensate refining capacity will allow us to meet increasing local demand for transportation fuels,” al-Sada said at the 15th Annual Condensate & Naphtha Forum in Doha on March 7.

The naphtha produced at these refineries is planned to be utilized as feedstock for an aromatics complex.

Converting gas into liquid products involves a significant level of complex technology. Qatar has partnered with some of the world’s biggest energy companies in this field- Sasol and Shell - to build world-scale gas-to-liquids conversion projects as another avenue to monetise its gas reserves.

The GTL projects produce a range of globally marketable environmentally-friendly liquid products and synthetic fuels. “The fact that globally only small amounts of GTL products are sold today has created an opportunity for Qatar to be a leading producer of cleaner fuels,” al-Sada said.

Oryx GTL, a Qatar Petroleum–Sasol joint venture, commenced production in 2006 with a capacity of 34,000 bpd of diesel, naphtha, and LPG.

Pearl GTL, jointly developed by QP and Shell, is being commissioned and when both trains are operational, it will produce 140,000 bpd of products - naphtha, diesel, kerosene, base oils and normal paraffins - establishing Qatar as the world GTL capital.