SPE Projects, Facilities & Construction
Volume 6,
Number 3,
September 2011,
pp. 145-154
Summary
The State of Qatar is rapidly expanding to capture almost one-third of the
world's liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) market. By 2010, LNG exports from the State
of Qatar are projected to reach 77 million tonnes per annum (Mt/a) (This was
the outlook in late 2009). In addition to the LNG production, there will be a
sizeable quantity of byproducts (condensate, propane, butane, and sulfur) as a
result of the LNG production. These byproducts are expected to reach production
rates of approximately 80 000 m3/d [500,000 barrels per day (B/D)]
of condensate, 20 000 tonnes per day (t/d) of propane, 13 000 t/d of butane,
and 12 000 t/d of sulfur.
To support this expansion, the State of Qatar has embarked on a pioneering
approach to the storage and loading of LNG and its byproducts that will serve
as an example of significant capital-investment savings, operational
flexibility, and reduced land requirements. Traditionally, dedicated storage
and loading facilities (infrastructure) have been designed and built to support
a specific LNG production train and its associated byproducts. The State of
Qatar's innovative approach has been the design and construction of a fully
integrated common infrastructure to support all of the joint-venture-owned LNG
production trains and other gas-related projects in Ras Laffan Industrial City
(RLC). This paper will describe the unique aspects of this fully integrated
infrastructure, its benefits, and the complexities and challenges associated
with making the vision of a fully integrated LNG infrastructure come to
fruition.
© 2011. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
4 March 2010
- Meeting paper published:
8 December 2009
- Manuscript approved:
14 April 2010
- Published online:
23 August 2011
- Version of record:
1 September 2011
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