Qatar LPG production to touch 14mtpa  

(MENAFN - The Peninsula) Doha • Qatar's LPG production is expected to reach 14 million tones per annum at the end of the decade, H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry said here yesterday.

Speaking at the opening of the two-day conference on Middle Eastern LPG in the Global Marketplace, Al Attiyah termed the newly established Government owned company 'Tasweeq' as a necessary initiative to ensure timely lifting of natural gas by-products, thus bringing value to all projects and stakeholders.

He said that Tasweeq will compete on a global scale and expressed confidence that the company will complete a successful start-up this year.

"Tasweeq is a new company that will be the exclusive export marketer of LPG, condensate, sulphur and refined products," he said. "Tasweeq is directly owned and controlled 100 per cent by the Government and is not related to Qatar Petroleum (QP)."

Al Attiyah noted that the development of the North Field resource is accompanied by a significant increase in natural gas by-products, especially condensate, sulphur and LPG, most of which will be exported through Ras Laffan Port.

"In view of increasing exports from Ras Laffan, the number of products and the sheer number of vessel movements has made it increasingly evident to the Government that establishing a single marketing entity is the best means to avoid gridlock," Al Attiyah said.

He added that in developing this company, the Government understands the importance of the timely export of LPG, condensates, sulphur and refined products in ensuring the key products of LNG, GTL and pipeline gas continue to be produced and exported without disruption.

"We also recognise the importance of the revenue that the sales of these products represent for each of the projects," Al Attiyah said.

He also pointed out that Qatar's LPG production and exports are growing rapidly and in a few years Qatar will be one of the world's largest LPG exporting countries.

Al Attiyah said that over the last decade Qatar has become the world's largest LNG exporter and that the country's current LNG production stands at 31 million tonnes per year.

Referring to future projects, Al Attiyah said that several key projects are under advanced stages of development which will further boost Qatar's energy and petroleum product exports.

He said that RasGas and Qatargas both have significant expansion projects under way that will bring LNG exports to 77 million tonnes per year.

Besides, together with Shell, Qatar is constructing the Pearl Gas to Liquids project which is set to become the largest facility of its kind. This in addition to Barzan project together with ExxonMobil through which Qatar is developing its longer term natural gas production capability to fuel Qatar's growing power and water demands as the national economy and population expands rapidly.

"Natural gas and products extracted from natural gas will support further development and diversification of Qatar's industrial sector which include one of the world's largest aluminum smelter, together with Norway's Hydro, various petrochemical projects and the 146,000 barrels per day Ras laffan condensate refinery," Al Attiyah added.

Ras Laffan condensate refinery project to be ready by end of 2008

Doha • The Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah yesterday said that the Phase 1 of Ras Laffan condensate refinery project which is currently under construction is slated for completion by the end of 2008.

He said that Phase 2 of the project was now under study.

Al Attiyah also told reporters on the sidelines of the Middle Eastern LPG in the Global Marketplace conference which opened yesterday that Qatar's domestic needs for gas is growing rapidly especially in the power sector.

"Ten years ago Qatar produced only one thousand megawatts and by the end of the decade we will be producing over nine thousand megawatts," he said.

He also said that the world today faces a shortage of products. "Even here in Qatar we started to import diesel. Many oil producers are importing either diesel or gasoline," he said.

"Today oil producers and consumers are under a lot of pressure due to the limitation of refiners. In Qatar, because of all the expansions and demands we are now importing diesel. The world is facing a shortage of refineries," he said.

He added that oil producers and consumers should put a lot of efforts to increase their refinery capacity.