Shell to complete GTL plant by end-2010

Royal Dutch Shell is on track to complete the construction of the Pearl, the world’s largest gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant, by the end of this year. Full capacity is expected by early 2012, a company executive said. The US$18-19 billion project has a capacity to produce 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) of GTL products which include diesel fuel, kerosene, naphtha and lubricating base oils. “We expect the full capacity to be reached by the first part of 2012,” said Krey Stirland, commercial manager at Qatar Shell, on the sidelines of an industry event in Doha. Condensates and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is expected to be produced by the first quarter of next year, while the remaining GTL products will be produced by the second quarter of 2011, he said. (September 28, 2010)