DOHA: Qatar produced 740,000 barrels of crude a day (b/d) on average in 2011 with the average price per barrel of onshore oil being $110 and that of offshore, $107, according to Qatar Petroleum (QP) which looks after the country’s vibrant oil and gas industry.
Joint projects are currently being implemented in coordination with international companies specialising in geological surveys and well-drilling to help develop oil reserves.
As for liquefied natural gas (LNG) of which Qatar is the world’s top exporter, its production capacity had reached 77 million tonnes a year in 2011 with the two major producers, Qatargas and RasGas, boasting 14 LNG trains.
In the petrochemical sector, the country hopes to reach a production level of 19 million tonnes a year of various petrochemical products over the next few years, the QP statement released by Qatar News Agency (QNA) said yesterday.
A comprehensive strategic plan for the development of petrochemical and industrial projects (2011-12) has been completed and approved by the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment, the state’s apex policy-making body.
The plans include a petrochemical complex for Shell to be operational in 2017, and a petrochemical complex for Qapco (Qatar Petrochemical Company) with an annual production capacity of up to 1.5 million tonnes of ethylene, a million tonnes of high-density polyethylene and 500,000 tonnes of polypropylene, to be operational in 2018.
The plans also include other key projects like an aromatics complex, Ras Laffan Refinery 2, hydrogen-diesel processing unit, gas oil loading facilities, Qafco-5 (Qatar Fertilizer Company), among others.
This year, Qatar Petroleum International (QPI), an investment arm of QP that makes strategic commercial investments across the energy value chain around the world, has a team of specialists reviewing the company’s strategy to achieve acquisitions worth up to a staggering $5bn.
Studies and negotiations are on to acquire electricity and gas assets in the Philippines, Greece, Oman and France, in addition to petrochemical projects in Egypt, Vietnam, China and Tunisia.
QP implements plans to increase the reserves of crude oil and increase the production capacities of the oil fields through continuous efforts in collaboration with major international oil and gas companies, most notably Occidental, Exxon Mobil, Maersk Oil Qatar.
In the area of production and development, QP is implementing a comprehensive plan to raise the efficiency of onshore and offshore fields and to increase their production capacity.
Onshore Dukhan is a large oil and gas field extending over an area of approximately 80kms by 8kms and is located about 80kms to the West of Doha. It produces crude oil, associated gas, condensate and non-associated gas. Currently, QP is implementing integrated studies of oil reserves in the field.
The results of these studies will lead to a long-term development plan. High quality crude and associated gas are produced from the offshore Maydan Mahzam and Bul Hanine fields which began production in 1965 and 1972, respectively.
QP has already started preliminary engineering studies to develop the fields, which will lead to the integration of the development plans of surface facilities, new wells and offshore installations with new ground facilities. QP also operates Al Shaheen oil field which lies 180km north of Doha.
QP had finished a development plan that aims at maintaining the current production rate of the field. In implementation of the plan, 15 new platforms, pipelines to transport oil, water, and gas were installed. The plan also includes two tankers for storage and export of oil and drilling of 169 wells. The average daily production from the field is about 300,000bpd.
Qatar has huge stockpiles of natural gas as the third largest country in the world in terms of the size of the reserves after Russia and Iran. Qatar’s North Gas Field is considered to be the largest single non-associated gas reservoir in the world. It covers an area of 6,000sqm, equivalent to about half the land area of Qatar. The utilisation of this field’s massive reserves has become a primary national goal to continue the development and prosperity process in the country.
The most important achievements in the gas sector have been accomplished over the past year. QP signed a partnership agreement for the development of Barzan Gas Project which aims to produce 1.4 billion cubic feet per day of the North Gas Field to feed the local industries. QP also implemented the Pearl Gas to Liquids (GTL) project which represents one of the largest energy projects. The ambitious project has design capacity to convert 1.6 billion standard cubic feet per day of wellhead gas into 260,000 bbl per day of products, comprising 140,000bbl/d of GTL products and 120,000bbl/d of condensate, LPG and ethane.
QPI built an impressive multi-billion dollar portfolio of investments in the global energy market. Investing in upstream, gas and power, refining and petrochemicals as well as other midstream/downstream projects has allowed QPI to emerge as a company of strong vision and discipline.
Work is now progressing rapidly on the implementation of the project of Ras Laffan Emergency and Safety College (RLESC), the premier emergency and safety training facility in the Middle East. The primary aim of RLESC is to train emergency and safety professionals in the following functional areas: Oil, gas and petrochemical industries, Marine, Civil Aviation, Civil Defense, Industrial Fire Fighting, Emergency Medical Services, Hazardous Materials, Search and Rescue, Health and Safety, Emergency Response and Driver Training,
The Peninsula
