Doha - The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani formally inaugurated the $1bn Phase One of the Al Khaleej Gas Project (AKG-1) at Ras Laffan Industrial City yesterday.
AKG-1, with a total production capacity of 750 million cubic feet per day (cfd), has been allocated to Oryx GTL, Ras Laffan Power Company, Qatar Energy Company, in addition to other consumers at Mesaieed Industrial City. The project will also produce condensates and LPG with ethane expected in 2008 which will be used in different petrochemical industries.
Al Khaleej Gas (AKG) is being developed under the terms of a Development and Production Sharing Agreement (DPSA) between Qatar and ExxonMobil Middle East Gas Marketing Limited (EMMEGML) for the production of 1.75 billion sqfd of natural gas from the North Field. Last June the amount was increased to 2 billion sqfd.
The contract for onshore works of the AKG-1 project was awarded to a joint venture of Chiyoda and Mitsui from Japan, Snamprogetti of Italy and Al Mana. The contract for offshore works was awarded to J Ray McDermott company.
Production from this phase has already been commissioned as planned in November last year.
Speaking on the occasion, H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry said that the second and last phase of the AKG project is currently in the pipeline and is scheduled for commissioning in 2009.
"Celebrating this milestone today, I look forward to more projects, to take place in the next few years, when gas production from the North Field is expected to increase by manifold, making Qatar the world's largest LNG exporter with an annual production of 77 million tons per annum (tpa), one third of the total world production," he said.
Mark Albers, President of ExxonMobil Development Company said gas began flowing from AKG-1 facilities producing from three offshore blocks. He said the goal is to produce 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day to fuel power, petrochemical and other industrial ventures at Ras Laffan Industrial City and elsewhere in the country.
AKG-1 today is capable of producing 750 million cubic feet per day of gas sales in addition to liquefied petroleum gases and condensate, he said.
He added that Phase Two of the project is progressing as planned and will produce the balance of the gas volumes one on line by the end of the decade. "Although Qatar Petroleum (QP) and ExxonMobil are today partners in many petroleum projects, AKG is unique in that all the natural gas production is being consumed within the country", said Albers.
© The Peninsula 2006
