9 May, 2001

In order to secure maximum production and sales of LNG from our plant, Qatargas initiated debottlenecking studies of its offshore and onshore facilities as early as 1998. Each of the plant's three LNG trains was designed to produce 300 tonnes per hour of LNG during winter and intermediate seasons, but reduced to 275 tonnes per hour during the day in the summer, due to the effect of the high ambient temperatures. The total plant capacity was originally designed to produce and deliver up to 6.4 million tons per year.

The first step in the debottlenecking studies was to identify the maximum achievable production capacity from the three trains. A capacity test was performed in Train 2 in November 1998 and a peak LNG production of 383 tonnes per hour was reached, but some operational bottlenecks were identified.

A preliminary maximum LNG capacity study was also performed by the refrigeration and liquefaction process licensor (APCI) in December 1998. The findings from this study showed that the maximum LNG production from each train could get up to as much as 390 tonnes per hour in winter conditions (30 percent above the design capacity).

In order to ensure that the offshore gas production could match the higher LNG production capacity, a feasibility study and front-end engineering design of the offshore Trains 1 and 2 debottlenecking was awarded to Technip Geoproduction in November 1998 and completed in June 2000. Each train's capacity will increase from the current 460 million to 600 million cubic feet per day. After debottlenecking, the maximum gas production from all three offshore trains will exceed the transport capacity of the subsea pipeline (1.6 billion cubic feet per day).

Further maximum capacity tests were performed during 1999, and in September 1999 a detailed debottlenecking study of the onshore facilities was awarded to Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) in Houston. By September 2000, KBR had studied several scenarios and Qatargas selected Case F for implementation.

The main conclusions from the study are as follows:

  • The existing facilities are able to produce up to 7.7 million tonnes per year of LNG in tanks, equivalent to 7.43 million tonnes of LNG per year delivered to Japan.

  • After debottlenecking to case F, the LNG production will reach 9.2 million tonnes per year in tanks.

Another milestone was achieved in October 2000 with the award of the front-end engineering design of the onshore facilities debottlenecking project to KBR. The activities were completed at end of April 2001. The award of the engineering procurement and construction contract is scheduled on October 01, 2001.

In order to start the implementation of the project as soon as possible, Qatargas awarded the supply and installation contract for nine upgraded gas turbines to Nuovo Pignone/GE on March 29, 2001. The first three turbines will be installed in Train 1 in April 2002, and the implementation of the debottlenecking project will take place train by train from 2003 and will be fully completed in April 2006. The cost of the project is approximately US$200 million.

Completion of the debottlenecking project is a major milestone in the Qatargas Business Plan and will contribute towards the company's vision of becoming the world's leading supplier of LNG and condensate.

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© Press Release 2005