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Qatar is the largest producer of LNG

January 2011
Qatar celebrated its milestone achievement with dazzling displays of acrobatics by aerialist teams, divers and light show with design inspired by an LNG tank at Ras Laffan Industrial City marking the country's production capacity milestone of 77 million tonnes perannum (Mta) of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The milestone reconfirms the country's position as the world's leading producer of LNG with the largest production capacity by far. This momentous feat realises the vision of the Emir HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who set this target for the end of 2010.

Based in Ras Laffan Industrial City ( RLIC ) Qatar's 14 LNG trains, including six mega trains which produce 7.8 million tonnes each annually, are operated by the two companies Qatargas and RasGas Company Limited. Together they provide the full 77 Mta production capacity. Qatari LNG is now delivered to over 23 markets across four continents.

The 77 Mta Celebration Event, which was the State's highest profile energy industry event this year, was held at Ras Laffan Industrial City under the patronage and presence of the Emir and was hosted by the Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry, HE Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, who is also the Chairman of Qatar Petroleum (QP).

Some 1,200 VIP guests from around the world, including the 23 countries to which Qatar currently exports LNG, attended. The guest list included local and overseas ministers, industry leaders and senior executives from the world's leading energy companies, as well as from the world of art, media, entertainment and sport.

Al-Attiyah said: "The State of Qatar promised to realise the vision of His Highness the Emir for Qatar to reach LNG production capacity of 77 million tonnes of LNG per annum by the end of 2010. This milestone brings to fruition years of investment in infrastructure and expertise which has enabled us to go from zero to 77 Mta in a mere 14 years. Qatar, today, has invaluable credentials as a key innovator in the global LNG market, with a reputation for delivering LNG to global markets safely, reliably and efficiently."

"No more LNG trains" Qatar has no plan to build a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) train, but process debottlenecking and revamping the existing ones is very much on the agenda, Al-Attiyah said after the celebration.

"Process debottlenecking is very much in the agenda. For instance the production capacity of Qatargas I was 6Mta, then after process debottlenecking we added another four million tonnes. We are not going to build any new LNG train, but if in the future we want to expand, it will only be though revamping and process debottlenecking, because in our calculations and studies it will be more easier, cost effective and to avoid building a grassroot project," he said.

Al-Attiyah was speaking at a news conference after the celebration of the country's production capacity milestone of 77Mta of LNG. He also said the Golden Pass LNG Terminal off the cost of Texas in the US, a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum (QP), ExxonMobil, RasGas and Cono- Phillips is expected to be operational in April, 2011. The terminal received its first shipment from Qatar in October 2010 for testing and commissioning, he added.

© Qatar Today 2011