Number 4 - ExxonMobil in the UK

15
Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil
set pace for global growth in LNG
Joint ventures involving Qatar
Petroleum and ExxonMobil are
expected to supply a significant
amount of the world’s production
of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by
2010.
Supported by ever-improving
economies of scale, new technology
and expanded plant
and terminal capacity as well as
Qatar’s significant natural gas
resources, these Qatargas and
RasGas joint ventures expect to
increase annual LNG production
in Qatar to more than 61 million
tons within two years. This is the
equivalent to supplying the yearly
natural-gas needs for more than
30 million homes.
“The global LNG market is
growing rapidly,” says ExxonMobil
Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson.
“That growth strengthens world
energy security by diversifying
supplies. Equally important,
because natural gas is cleanerburning
than other conventional
energy sources, the growth also
provides important environmental
benefits.”
Rapid growth in Qatar
Unlike crude oil, natural gas
traditionally has been delivered
by pipeline to consumers relatively
near its point of production.
While oil can be loaded onto
tankers and carried across the
oceans to distant markets, mov-
ing natural gas long distances
via ships is not practical when
the gas is in vapor form. But
if liquefied and converted to
a super-cold fluid (minus 260
degrees Fahrenheit), natural
gas can be safely and efficiently
transported in specially designed
LNG carriers.
What makes this possible is
that liquefied gas occupies a
space 600 times smaller than gas
in vapor form. Thus, 600 cubic
feet of gas as a vapor fits into just
one cubic foot as a liquid.
That transformation allows a
single LNG carrier to economically
deliver a significant supply
of energy to customers halfway
around the world. When
offloaded at a specially designed
receiving terminal, the gas is
warmed to ambient temperature
and returned to vapor form. It’s
then delivered to customers by
pipelines, just like conventional
natural gas.
Qatar Petroleum and
ExxonMobil have produced
natural gas from Qatar’s
offshore North Field
since 1996. With naturalgas
resources of more than
900 trillion cubic feet, the field is
the world’s largest single source
of nonassociated gas (gas not
associated with oil production);
once ashore, it is processed and
liquefied in plants known as LNG
Story by Thomas L. Torget Photography by Michael Kotlen
Joint ventures are expanding plant and terminal capacity and applying new technology
to globalize an energy resource that once was limited to regional markets.
trains. Valuable products such
as butane and condensate are
removed (for use by refiners to
make gasoline and other products)
before the gas is liquefied
and loaded aboard LNG carriers.
The first shipment of North
Field LNG in 1996 went to customers
in Japan, and exports
grew rapidly as new trains
began to come online.
Today, a multinational workforce
of 65,000 is constructing
four of the world’s largest LNG
trains that will bring to 12 the
total involved in processing
and liquefying North Field gas.
These new trains, all of which
are planned to be operational in
2009, are joint ventures involving
Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil
and other energy companies.
ExxonMobil holds an equity
interest in each of the 12 trains.
As the number of trains has
increased, technology improvements
have led to much larger
units with improved operating
efficiencies. While the early trains
produce about 3 million tons
of LNG annually, the newest
ones will each produce almost
8 million tons a year. Improved
efficiency translates to lower unit
costs, which enhances the competitive
position of North Field
LNG in the global energy market.
It also translates into lower
unit emissions.
Longer than three football fields,
the new Q-Max ships can transport
80 percent more LNG than conventional
carriers.
A fleet of tugboats helped position
the Adriatic LNG terminal (below) by
using a satellite global positioning
system to precisely determine the
terminal’s mooring location.