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Pearl GTL at a glance

Building the world's largest gas to liquids plant

Pearl GTL will be the world’s largest plant converting natural gas into 140,000 barrels per day of clean-burning liquid transport fuel and other products. The project will also produce 120,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of natural gas liquids and ethane.

Key facts

Location:	Qatar, Ras Laffan Industrial City
Category:	Integrated gas and GTL project
Ownership:	Development and Production Sharing Agreement with government of Qatar, 100% Shell funding
Operator:	Shell
Peak: Production:	320 kboe/d of gas resulting in: - 140 kbbl/d of GTL products (2 trains) - 120 kboe/d of NGLs and Ethane
Key contractors:	JGC/KBR joint venture

Technology

The proprietary Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis (SMDS) process will be at the heart of the two-train Pearl GTL plant. Developed over the course of three decades, the process has been proven on a commercial scale at the 14,700-barrel-per-day Bintulu GTL plant in Malaysia, which began operation in 1993. The Bintulu experience helped improve the chemical catalysts integral to the SMDS process. These improvements will reduce unit capital expenditure, allow faster processing and should enable Shell to produce greater volumes of fuel and other products at Pearl.

Current developments

Construction at the Pear GTL project, Qatar, 2008

Pearl GTL is a large and complex project. Since the project launch in July 2006 progress has been good. The project is proceeding in line with our expectations at the time of final investment decision (FID). Onshore, over forty thousand workers are now building the two-train GTL plant and numerous items of major plant equipment have been installed. Offshore, drilling continues.

Markets

Building on its extensive experience marketing GTL products from Bintulu, Shell will export Pearl’s high value, differentiated premium products, including GTL gasoil, kerosene, naphtha, normal paraffin and base oils for lubricants, to markets around the globe.

Environment and society

Together with Qatargas 4, Pearl GTL represents a multi-billion dollar commitment to Qatar by Shell and the project is being developed in line with our sustainable development principles.

The project has been designed to use technology that will help to limit any environmental impact. The facility is designed to use every drop of water as part of our approach to not release any liquids from the plant. Pearl GTL’s industrial water processing plant will be the world’s largest, recovering, treating and re-using all the industrial process water. With a capacity to treat 280,000 barrels a day of water, Pearl GTL’s water treatment plant is comparable to that for a city of 140,000 people.