National Day/ Qatar Petroleum Deserved to Reach the World by Its High Performance

Doha, December 15 (QNA) - Qatar Petroleum (QP) is responsible for all phases of the oil and gas industry in the State of Qatar. Its principal activities cover exploration, drilling and production operations, transport, storage, marketing and sale of crude oil, natural gas liquids, liquefied natural gas, gas-to-liquids, refined products, petrochemicals and fertilizers, and helicopter and financial services. Qatar Petroleum s strategy of conducting hydrocarbon exploration and new projects is through Exploration and Production Sharing Agreements (EPSA) and Development and Production Sharing Agreements (DPSA) concluded with major international oil and gas companies. During the past two decades, Qatar was able to reach advanced positions in the oil and gas industry, not on the level of national oil companies; it rather became a major player in the world oil and gas markets through the diversification of its hydrocarbon products and building giant projects, especially in the areas of LNG, GTL and petrochemicals. First, Oil Sector: Oil is one of the main sources of hydrocarbon produced by QP, which attaches great importance to the oil sector. 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. The sector achieved many accomplishments over the past year in the area of exploration and evaluation. Joint projects are currently being implemented in cooperation with international companies specialized in the field of geological survey and drilling wells in order to develop oil reserves of the state. In the area of production and development, Qatar Petroleum is implementing a comprehensive plan to raise the efficiency of onshore and offshore fields and to increase their production capacity. As for producing fields, the average daily production of crude oil in Qatar in 2011 was about 740 thousand barrels per day. The average price of a barrel of the Qatari onshore oil was $ 110 while the offshore oil average price was $ 107. Onshore Dukhan is a large oil and gas field extending over an area of approximately 80 kms by 8 kms and is located about 80 kms to the West of Doha. It produces crude oil, associated gas, condensate and non-associated gas. Currently, QP is implementing integrated studies of oil reservoirs in the field. The results of these studies will lead to a long-term development plan. High quality crudes 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 thousand barrels per day. Second, Gas Sector: 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 6,000 square kilometers, equivalent to about half the land area of the State of Qatar. The utilization of this field s massive reserves has become a primary national goal to continue the development and prosperity process in the country. Gas projects have dramatically diversified until it Qatar became one of the leading countries in the gas industry and the first source and carrier of LNG in the world with production capacity of 77 million metric tons per year, after it completed run all production lines of the two companies, Qatargas and RasGas, amounting to fourteen lines during the year 2011. The Qatari gas industry was not limited to its export as raw material, rather a strategy of development the gas projects has been implemented in cooperation with international partners based on four main themes: the production of liquefied natural gas, gas-to-liquids, gas export through pipelines, the use of gas in power plants and petrochemical feedstock fuels for the production of a number of value-added materials for local consumption and for export. 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. Pearl GTL won the "Best Mena Oil and Gas Project Award" in recognition of the originality of its concept and the long-term value it generates for Qatar, at the region s flagship industry event Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC). Third, Petrochemical Sector: Qatar's future plans for the petrochemical industries aim to reach a production of 19 million metric tons per year from the various petrochemical products during the next few years. The comprehensive strategic plan for the development of petrochemical and industrial projects in Qatar (2011-2020) have been completed and approved by the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment. The plan includes a petrochemical complex for (Shell) to be operated in 2017; and a petrochemical complex for (QAPCO) with an annual production capacity of up to 1.5 million tons of ethylene, a million tons of high-density polyethylene, and 500 thousand tons of linear low-density polyethylene, and 500 thousand tons of polypropylene, to be operated in 2018. The plan also includes other projects like aromatics complex, Ras Laffan refinery-2, hydrogen-diesel processing unit, gas oil loading facilities, QAFCO -5 and others. Fourth, Qatar Petroleum International (QPI): is an investment arm of Qatar Petroleum (QP) established to make strategic commercial investments across the energy value chain around the world. 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. In 2012, QPI launched a team of specialist to review the company's strategy in order to achieve acquisitions worth up to five billion dollars. It is currently negotiates and studies the acquisitions on electricity and gas assets in the Philippines, Greece, Oman and France in addition to petrochemicals projects in Egypt, Vietnam, China and Tunisia. Fifth, Industrial Zones: represent a model for building an integrated society of oil and gas industries in the extraction and production places. Ras Laffan Industrial City hosts an industrial port and several industrial facilities. It provides integrated services to businesses including modern infrastructure, security, fire and safety section, medical center, an environment section and support services area. Ras Laffan Port is considered one of the largest LNG export facilities in the world. The 8.5 sq km port cost more than US$1 billion and became fully operational in 1996 with LNG export capacity of 30 million metric tons per annum. Work is now progressing rapidly in 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. Mesaieed Industrial City (MIC) was established in 1996 as a single point authority to provide ''one stop'' services to all businesses in Mesaieed; to develop a strategic plan for the allocation of land; and to provide common port, marine and infrastructure facilities. In addition, MIC is responsible for attracting light, medium, and support industries to meet the needs of the larger businesses. MIC implemented the engineering, procurement and installation works to improve the traffic safety on Sealine road, road works and infrastructure in Al-Gabro area, Light Industries Zone (Phase II), the renovation and expansion of the navigation channel; and the establishment of a new sports club, two fire centers and an environmental garden that will contribute to improving the environment in Mesaieed Industrial City. MIC also carried out sanitation, housing, educational and entertainment projects, in addition to the establishment of the integrated security compound of the Ministry of the Interior which includes comprehensive services for the Ministry's staff living in the Mesaieed Industrial City and around. (QNA)