Ras Laffan Port loads four LNG carriers simultaneously

The world’s largest LNG export facility at Ras Laffan has crossed another milestone by simultaneously loading four tankers on March 22, 2009.

“Only Ras Laffan Port has the capability to load four LNG tankers at the same time,” a spokesman for Ras Laffan Industrial City said yesterday. With four operational LNG berths, Ras Laffan Port is already the world’s top liquefied natural gas exporting facility. The tankers that were loaded were 135,000 cu m ‘Al Khor’ (Berth LNG1), 136,000 cu m ‘Disha’ (Berth LNG2), 145,700 cu m ‘AlJassasiya’ (Berth LNG3) and 216,000 cu m ‘Al Hamla’ (Berth LNG4).
Additionally, two new berths - LNG5 and LNG6 - are under construction and will be operational by 2011.

Chiyoda Awarded a Long Term EPCM Services Contract for LNG and Gas Processing Plants in Qatar

Chiyoda Corporation, Japan’s leading engineering and construction firm, announces that a contract has been concluded between RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) and Chiyoda Almana Engineering L.L.C (CAEL) for Long Term
Engineering, Procurement, Construction management (EPCm) Services for small to medium sized projects.

1. Client RasGas Company Limited. (Shareholders: Qatar Petroleum 70%, ExxonMobil 30%)
2. Contract Period: Four (4) years starting March 2009. (RasGas also has the option to extend for a further year)
3. Objective: CAEL will provide EPCm services as a long-term partner for small to medium sized projects for a total of seven LNG plants and two large-sized gas processing plants and other facilities owned by RasGas. This includes two mega-sized LNG plants (each capacity: 7.8 MMTPA) and a large-sized gas processing plant which are now under construction by Chiyoda and Technip (France) Joint Venture in Ras Laffan, Qatar.
4. Total contract value: Approx. US$ 300Million (Estimated by RasGas)
5. Chiyoda, who has constructed a considerable number of LNG and gas processing plants in Qatar, has jointly established Chiyoda Almana Engineering L.L.C along with a local company (Al-Mana Group), mainly to support post-construction plant operation for Qatari clients.

Chiyoda believe that its continuous and reliable service to RasGas and the establishment of the above support systems for clients were much-admired by RasGas.

On the Natural Gas Hydrates 3

On the Natural Gas Hydrates 2

On the Natural Gas Hydrates

Natural Gas Hydrates: Brief Introduction

Natural gas hydrates are fascinating compounds. In the production and processing of natural gas they are problematic, well known for plugging the pipes and damaging process equipment, which is the one of the biggest problems for the gas processing companies across the world. On the other hand, on the ocean bottom it is thought that vast amounts of hydrocarbons are trapped in these solid components, waiting for technically feasible means of production. Finally, hydrates have always been an academic curiosity. New aspects of hydrates are discovered annually and new theories must replace old ones. 

In 1811 Sir Humphry Davy, who gained fame for both his research on the methane-laden atmospheres in British coalmines and his synthesis of various new elements and compounds, witnessed the first chlorine hydrate crystallizing. 185 years later, natural gas hydrates have begun to play an important role in energy business. From being a mere chemical curiosity, they have proven to be a nuisance for the natural gas industry. Their importance increased in the 1970s, when they began to plug even the largest pipelines from offshore or arctic fields or the wells from high-pressure underground storage facilities.

Studies over the past two decades indicate that large gas hydrate plugs form most often after shut-in pipelines or wells begin to flow. When a pipeline is shut-in, the fluid separates into the gas water and hydrocarbons as the temperature decreases.  

These days, I am looking into this phenomena and associated problems in local gas industry in Qatar. I will keep you all posted about the latest developments and technologies on hydrates problem in all aspects. 

LNG faces yo-yo effect in supply and demand

The liquefied natural gas business faces many years of imbalance in supply and demand, a leading industry figure has warned.

BG North America senior vice-president Betsy Spomer said there could be an initial period of a few years when production outpaces demand, followed by a supply crunch, possibly starting in 2012.Ms Spomer said a surge in global LNG production capacity over the next three years was coming at a time of shaky demand and may encourage a buyer’s market in the product for a few years.

LNG supplies are forecast to rise 50% to 275m tonnes between 2009-2012, as new projects in Qatar, Indonesia, and Russia come on stream.Much of this will come from Qatar, which recently confirmed it was on track to double its capacity by 2011-2012 to 77m tonnes.

At the same time, expectations for the increase in short-term demand, particularly in the US, have been retreating.

For example, the US Energy Information Administration has this week again reduced its forecast for the nation’s 2009 LNG imports, this time to about 400bn cu ft from the prediction of 410bn cu ft a month ago. At the beginning of this year, the administration forecast that 2009 imports would reach 1,179bn cu ft.

Qatar plans to increase natural gas output to 77mn tons by 2012

Qatar expects to increase its liquefied natural gas (LNG) output capacity to 77mn tons a year by the end of 2012, Hammad Mubarak Al-Muhannadi, operations group manager at Rasgas said. Qatar has a new production line starting up next spring and another in autumn 2009. Train six will be producing LNG sometime between March and May next year, with another production line coming online next October. Al-Muhannadi added that the LNG market will grow slightly starting from next year. Qatar , the world's largest exporter of LNG, negotiates with Kuwait to supply it with LNG. Qatari LNG is produced mainly from state-owned Qatar Petroleum’s RasGas and Qatargas.

Pearl GTL

Just what it takes...

• Structured steel: over 100,000 tonnes
  
• Concrete: in excess of 490,000 cubic meters
• Piping: around 100,000 tonnes
• Cable: 7,600 kilometers - the distance from London to New Orleans
• Pieces of equipment: over 100,000 tonnes
• Catalysis: over 5,000 tonnes
• Man-hours to be worked: more than 200 million
• Workers: more than 35,000
• The site for Pearl GTL is 2.5 square kilometers, the size of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in London put together.

Bahrain Finalizes Gas Deal with Iran

According to the Gulf Daily News, Bahrain has reached an agreement with Iran for the import of one billion cubic feet of natural gas per day via pipeline. The oil and gas minister of Bahrain, Abdulhussain Mirza, met with his Iranian counterpart, Ghulam Hussain Nowzari, on October 20 to discuss the terms of the deal. The agreement envisions further negotiations on both price and term. Dr. Mirza noted that “the idea is to secure enough gas supply for [Bahrain’s] future needs.”Bahrain plans to construct an LNG regasification terminal in order to import gas from other countries as well.