CAPITAL: Doha

MONETARY UNIT: Riyal

REFINING CAPACITY: 57,500 b/cd

OIL PRODUCTION: 606,000 b/d

OIL RESERVES: 3.7 billion bbl

GAS RESERVES: 300 tcf

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, inaugurated Ras Laffan Port, part of 90 sq km Ras Laffan Industrial City, in February 1997.

Two months earlier, the 135,000 cu m LNG carrier Al Zubarah departed the 8.5 sq km port with the first export cargo from the Qatar Liquefied Gas Co. (Qatargas) plant.

Qatargas had two 25-year LNG supply contracts with buyers in Japan and South Korea, and negotiations during 1997 were under way with potential customers from China, Taiwan, and Thailand. Talks had also been held with commercial and government representatives in Poland, Croatia, Turkey, and India.

The port

Construction of the port, specifically designed for LNG, condensate, and sulfur exports, began in the first quarter of 1992 in what was then a region of empty desert 85 km northeast of Doha.

Port dredging involved the removal of 10.6 million cu m of spoil, pumped ashore to reclaim port land. Construction made use of about 490,000 cu m of precast concrete, along with 160,000 cu m of concrete cast in situ.

The shipping approach to Ras Laffan Port is a 280 m wide, 5.5 km long entrance channel, dredged to a depth of 15 m below chart datum.

Two huge breakwaters have been constructed. One, to the north, the main breakwater, is 6 km long, while the lee breakwater to the south is around 5 km in length.

Condotte Qatar JV, based in Italy, conducted engineering, procurement, and construction under a multimillion-dollar contract. Dragomar handled dredging, while Grandi Lavori Fincosit of Italy did most of the engineering and design work.

The port has two loading berths. They handle shipments by Qatargas and possibly those of Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. (Rasgas), which was building a second gas liquefaction plant at Ras Laffan and was scheduled to begin exporting LNG to South Korea in 1999.

There is provision for two more berths to be built at a later stage. One of these probably would be required by a third liquefaction plant, under study by Enron.

Construction on this plant was expected to begin as soon as sale and purchase agreements had been signed in connection with the venture. Alternatively, the third berth could be used for a second-stage expansion program of Rasgas.

Port operations

Qatargas operated two LNG trains in 1997. Design capacity rate of the two trains is 4 million tons/year.

Work on a third train at the Qatargas facility was scheduled for completion in 1998, taking plant capacity to 6 million tons/year of LNG.

By the end of 1997 four LNG ships, including the Al Zubarah and others with like capacity, had begun operating between Qatar and Japan, with a round trip taking 29 days. Qatargas was to take delivery of a further six 135,000 cu m vessels between the end of 1997 and 2000, reflecting the expected buildup of consumption by electricity generating companies in Japan.

With the two berths in place, Ras Laffan Port`s export capacity was thought to be in the region of 15 million tons/year of LNG.

With all four berths constructed and operational, the capacity could be increased to 30 million tons/year. There then would be plenty of scope for development of additional production plants within Ras Laffan Industrial City.

Ras Laffan Port also has two dry cargo/container berths, each 300 m long, which can accommodate vessels up to 45,000 dwt. There are also a 150 m long heavy load berth, with a 35 m wide roll-on, roll-off ramp; a tug berth, 270 m long for as many as four 55 ton tugs, launches, and pilot boats; two berths for the loading of liquid products on vessels up to 300,000 dwt in size, partially laden; and a 420 m area of logistic supply boat berths to support offshore drilling and production operations.

Although primarily an LNG-loading facility, Ras Laffan has the potential to handle other cargoes. The container/dry cargo berth already built, for example, can handle bulk cargoes such as urea.

Export projects

Central to operations in the immediate future were the two gas export projects, Qatargas and Rasgas.

Qatargas is a joint venture between QGPC, with a 65% share, Total and Mobil, 10% each, and Marubeni and Mitsui, 7.5% each.

It had contracts for sale of a total of 6 million tons/year to Japanese buyers: 4 million tons/year to Chubu Electric Co. and the rest to a consortium of seven other customers. Volumes not taken by those buyers could be sold in the spot market.

Qatargas had responsibility for transporting the LNG to Japan and had commissioned construction of the 10 LNG carriers at yards in Japan.

Qatargas took a 25 year time charter on the tankers, managed by Japanese companies: MOL and NYK, four vessels each, and K Line, two vessels.

Rasgas, the other project, is a joint venture of QGPC 66.5%, Mobil 26.5%, Itochu Corp. 4%, and Nissho Iwai Co. 3%. The facility was due on stream in 1999.

Rasgas has signed a 2.4 million ton/year sale and purchase agreement with Korea Gas Corp. In addition, Chinese Petroleum Corp. of Taiwan, the government of China, the Essar Group of India, and Botas of Turkey had signed letters of intent. Eventually, Rasgas intends to export about 10 million tons/year of LNG.

Shipping arrangements for Rasgas LNG were incomplete in 1997.

The project proposed by Enron was on the drawing board. Negotiations with prospective buyers, with India a center of attention, were in progress during 1997. They could lead to construction of another liquefaction facility, with output of 5 million tons/year of LNG, at Ras Laffan.