Doha - Qatar, 19 June 2011: On the occasion of the World Environment Day this month, Qatargas' Jetty Boil-off Gas (JBOG) Recovery Project Team organised a beach clean-up drive along a stretch of the Ras Laffan beach.

A group of 50 JBOG Project Team members and contractors volunteered to participate in the two-hour long clean-up drive which was supported by the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Division of the Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC) and some 30 employees from the RLIC branch of Larsen & Toubro, a well-known engineering firm.

Commenting on the drive, Toufik Benmosbah, Qatargas Chief Safety, Environment & Quality Officer, said: "Qatargas is very pleased with the success of this event driven by the JBOG project team. Organising such a clean-up initiative stems from Qatargas' environmental responsibility and Corporate Citizenhip philosophy, and seeks to promote voluntary work among the staff for social and environmentally responsible causes. The JBOG Project itself is something that contributes significantly towards environmental protection as it will minimise LNG boil-off gas flaring at LNG berths, reducing emissions and promoting recovery of otherwise wasted energy".

Bashir Mirza, JBOG Project Manager, added: "I am delighted that the Qatargas JBOG Project Management Team came forward with this green initiative that we chose to implement on the occasion of the World Environment Day. I thank all volunteers from Qatargas, its contractors and RLIC who participated in this worthy activity."

The location for the clean-up was behind the Qatargas tank farm area of the northern beach of RLIC. The rationale for undertaking this activity at this location was that it is the nesting season for the hawksbill marine turtles.  The Qatargas team chose the low tide period to ensure that there was no possibility of disturbing the turtles coming on the beach to lay eggs. To ensure complete protection for the marked turtle nests along the beach, the clean-up team avoided those areas during the exercise.

Mohammad Albeldawi, Ras Laffan Head of Environment added in support of this initiative that in the State of Qatar, marine turtles are regarded as endangered and protected marine species. The coastal area of RLIC specifically provides a unique habitat for the nesting of turtles. Taking this into consideration, Ras Laffan initiated the turtle conservation program which is currently in its 11th year with determination to protect the marine turtle.

-Ends-

Notes to editor:
The "Jetty Boil-off Gas (JBOG) Recovery Project" aims to recover gas currently being flared during Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) ship loading at the Port of Ras Laffan. The project is part of the Common Facilities Projects at Ras Laffan Industrial City in the north of Qatar. The project will enable boiled-off gas to be collected from LNG ships and compressed at a central facility.  The compressed gas will then be sent to the LNG producers to be consumed as fuel or converted back into LNG.  This project, when fully operational, will recover the equivalent of some 0.6 million tonnes per year of LNG, which is enough natural gas to power more than 40,000 homes.

Qatargas is focused on reducing its emissions footprint and energy use to the lowest practical levels and aims to be a strong pacesetter within the LNG industry in this regard.  This commitment is demonstrated through the reduction in emissions from Q-Max/Q-Flex fleet of vessels, where significant reductions in emissions are obtained for each molecule of LNG transported, when compared to conventional LNG vessels. Qatargas 1 Operations has completed a suite of significant NOx emissions reduction projects, with direct benefits to air quality in the region. Qatargas also has an established track record in dealing with mitigating and offsetting environmental effects of its projects, such as the successful QG2 and QG 3&4 coral relocation.

Qatargas was established in 1984 and pioneered the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry in Qatar.  Today, Qatargas, under the guidance of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy & Industry of the State of Qatar and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatargas, is the largest LNG producer in the world, with an annual LNG production capacity of 42 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) realising its vision to deliver LNG to its customers around the globe, from its world-class facilities in Qatar.  Qatargas has seven LNG trains, of which four are the largest in the world - known as mega trains - each with a production capacity of 7.8 mtpa. 

For any media enquiries please contact:  
Lynda James, lyjames@qatargas.com.qa  Ph +974 7799 66 35
Thajudeen Aliar, taliar@qatargas.com.qa Ph +974 3340 64 74

© Press Release 2011