Doha, 11 March 2007 - In March 2007, RasGas will celebrate the launch of one of the world's largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production plants, Train 5. The majority of the LNG from Train 5 will head to European gas markets via various gas wholesalers including Belgian wholesaler Distrigas.

Train 5 has a production capacity of 4.7 million tonnes per annum (Mta) of LNG making it one of the largest and most productive trains in the world.  As a result of both technological innovations and optimal project management, LNG can be shipped over long distances from Qatar in a cost effective manner to compete with pipeline gas.

From 2004 to 2030, annual world demand for natural gas is projected to increase from 2,800bn cu m to 4,700bn cu m.  European countries are increasingly turning to LNG due to its environmental benefits in relation to oil-based fuels and are already negotiating long-term contracts to ensure reliable and secure supplies.

In 2008 RasGas will also begin supplying LNG to the Chinese Petroleum Corporation in Taiwan and in 2009 to the Golden Pass LNG Terminal in the USA. To fulfil these major contracts RasGas will construct two further LNG trains 6 and 7.  Each train will have a production capacity of 7.8 Mta which will make them amongst the world's biggest LNG plants.  Train 6 is scheduled to come on stream in 2008 and Train 7 in 2009.

"By the end of the decade RasGas will have production capacity of approximately 37 Mta and will supply markets around the world including South Korea, India, Taiwan, Belgium, Italy, Spain and the US. Qatar's total production capacity will be 77 Mta and Qatar LNG will account for a third of the projected world LNG supply in 2010," says RasGas Managing Director Dr Mohammed Saleh Al Sada.

Construction of the LNG liquefaction plant was completed in less than 28 months and like its predecessor Train 4, was completed under budget and ahead of schedule. Additionally, Train 5 was built with an outstanding safety record.

"Train 5 set multiple benchmarks for excellence of project execution, but the aspect that we're most proud of is our construction safety performance " says Dave Marchak RasGas Venture Manager. "We've achieved levels of performance that are really unsurpassed in industry. We've reduced the frequency of incidents to one fifth of the industry average in terms of incidents and that with a workforce of over 10,000 people."

-Ends-

About RasGas
RasGas Company Limited, one of Qatar's premier LNG suppliers, is owned by Qatar Petroleum (QP) and ExxonMobil RasGas Inc. RasGas operates production facilities to treat, liquefy and export LNG to countries across Asia, Europe and the USA. Based in Ras Laffan, Qatar, it currently produces over 20 million metric tonnes per year (Mta) with five trains in operation. It is expected that this production will be approximately 37 Mta by the end of the decade, with the completion of seven operational trains.

RasGas Contact
RasGas Public Relations department
Erin Murphy Tel: +974 492 3217
Email:exmurphy@rasgas.com.qa

© Press Release 2007