Duke of York visits Shell research centre

He was accompanied by British Ambassador to Qatar, John Hawkins and other officials. The delegation was hosted by Andy Brown, Shell’s Executive Vice President Qatar and Managing Director of the Pearl Gas to Liquids (GTL) project.

His Royal Highness witnessed cutting-edge research in progress in the laboratories at the Shell research centre at the landmark Qatar Science & Technology Park in Doha.

Shell is committed to investing $100m at the research centre over a 10-year period.

The work at the Qatar Shell Research & Technology Centre is focused on the development and implementation of technologies that support Qatar’s energy industry, particularly Qatar’s aspirations to be the globe’s largest liquefied natural gas exporter and the gas to liquids capital of the world.

Major projects include testing and developing Gas to Liquids catalysts for the Pearl Gas to Liquids project, the world’s largest Gas to Liquids plant which Shell is building with Qatar Petroleum in Ras Laffan Industrial City . Scientists at the centre are also researching the properties of Gas to Liquids products and developing novel uses for sulphur, which is a co-product of Qatar’s natural gas.

Work is also underway to deepen the understanding of carbonate reservoirs and their potential use for CO2 storage - Qatar Petroleum ( QP ) and Shell have teamed up with the Qatar Science & Technology Park and Imperial College London on this project, with 20 PhD students and 20 post-doctoral researchers working on it in Qatar and the United Kingdom.

Scientists at the facility have adopted a network approach for much of the research work, involving young Qatari academic researchers and linking them to senior researchers in Qatar and abroad. Another example of this approach is the agreement signed earlier this month to research the properties of GTL Jet Fuel with Texas A&M at Qatar and the University of Sheffield.

Brown said: “We are honoured to host His Royal Highness at the Qatar Shell Research & Technology Centre. The work he has seen here is contributing to the successful development of Qatar’s natural resources, and we believe it is contributing to the expansion of Qatar’s research capabilities in line with Qatar’s National Vision 2030.”