Oryx GTL to begin exports in December
Web posted at: 10/26/2006 7:46:35
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
thepeninsulaqatar.com
Shipments to be mainly routed to Europe and Asia, say officials
Chris Turner
doha - Oryx GTL, a key joint venture between Qatar Petroleum (QP) and South Africa's Sasol to produce water-white gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuels, is set to begin exports from December this year. It is a pioneer GTL project in the world.
The shipments will be mainly routed to Europe and Asia, senior Oryx GTL officials told a local business periodical, Business Qatar, in an interview. The magazine last weekend released excerpts of the interview, which will be published in its next issue.
The main markets of Oryx GTL are Europe and Asia. "The diesel market is dynamic in Europe, so our initial shipments will be headed to Western Europe," Chris Turner, Oryx GTL's General Manager, said. With him was Khalid Al Hail, Deputy General Manager.
Khalid Al Hail
"In the case of naphtha, there is a bigger demand in Asia primarily because of ethylene crackers. So, our focus in there," he said.
Oryx GTL is in charge of production, while Sasol-Chevron will take care of marketing, Khalid Al Hail said.
"We launched the plant in June this year but we knew even before the summer that we will be delayed," said the officials.
Construction work began in 2003 and part of the project was completed even before other ventures took off in Qatar. "We never faced a shortage of manpower," the officials said in reply to a pointed question.
The EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractors are entrusted with the responsibility to deliver a complete project. There has been a delay in completing construction.
In Marc 2004, Sasol-Chevron and QP announced plans for 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production. "The discussions are still on and once they are complete, we will have the exact bpd figures," the officials said talking of future expansion plans.
Initial production is close to 34,000 bpd with the break-up being 22,000 bpd for diesel, 8,000 to 9,000 bpd for naphtha and 2,000 for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Plans are also afoot to have in future a lube plant. The proposed plant is not exactly a lube one, but a base oil production facility. "Lubes will be added on at a later date."
Oryx GTL's initial production will be targeting a niche market, but GTL production as a whole is growing at a steady rate of three to four per cent annually worldwide.
The timing of the project launch happened to be the right one as it was the era of low oil prices. "We are very excited that Oryx will be leading the world in GTL production."
"We have 400 people from over 20 nationalities working with us. They have worked hard to train and develop a very enthusiastic team," said the officials.
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