Shell has opened the road to production at the world's largest Gas-To-Liquids (GTL) plant as gas began flowing to its Pearl plant.
The Pearl GTL Plant Image: Shell |
The Pearl GTL project, based in the Qatar in the Middle East, is a joint development with Qatar Petroleum and the largest of its kind in the world. The latest milestone towards converting natural gas to liquid petroleum products ws reached at the end of March as the gas pipeline from the offshore field that feeds the plant was finally opened.
The gas is being fed from the giant North Field in the Arabian Gulf, estimated to hold more than 900 trillion cubic feet of gas. Over its lifetime, the Pearl GTL plant is estimated to produce the eqivalent of 3bn barrels of oil, adding some 8% to Shell's global output.
Construction of the site, in Qatar's Ras Laffan industrial zone, began in 2005 and has involved more than 52,000 workers from around the world. Now, with the control centre, turbines and auxilliary systems functioning, the two 76cm pipes carrying gas 60km from the two offshore drilling platforms in the North Field to the plant have now been opened.
Once fully operational, the Pearl GTL site will separate the gas to provide liquids including liquified petrolem gas and ethane. Metals and other by products will also be refined to provide further products such as sulphur pellets for fertiliser.
The pure gas (methane) that is left is then converted into an additional range of gas-to-liquid products, with liquid hydrocarbon wax a further by-product.
The development costs of the project, estimated at more than $20bn, are being picked up by Shell based on a profit-sharing agreement with the State of Qatar.