QATAR - Gas Quality, Costs & NGL Supplies
North Field gas is very sour but rich in methane. Its ethane ethane (ĕth`ān), CH3CH3, gaseous hydrocarbon. It is a continuous-chain alkane. As a constituent of natural gas, it is used for fuel. It can be prepared by cracking and fractional distillation of petroleum. content is 5%, compared with 10.5% in the case of associated gas, and the condensate portion is quite heavy. This means the North Field can be a major source for methanol, as well as LNG LNG (liquefied natural gas): see under natural gas. (liquid methane), and a poor source of feedstocks for ethanol, ethylene, etc. Its propane and butane contents are low, compared to the yields of associated gas. The net well-head production cost of North Field gas is likely to exceed 30 US cents/m BTU Btu: see British thermal unit. . The plant site unit cost (after piping for LNG), would come to about 40 cents/m BTU. This figure compares favourably with unit costs of Pacific or Australian (N-W Shelf) gas for Japan-bound LNG. The price of gas for Qatargas' and Rasgas' LNG plants is 50 cents/m BTU.
North Field production costs in the next decade might be higher taking into account such factors as increasing wages, equipment prices, inflation, etc. The same would be true in the case of Qatar's oil production and EOR costs. Qatari planners are pinning their hopes on environmental factors which could raise the market value of natural gas.
QGPC QGPC Qatar General Petroleum Corporation
QGPC Qatar General Petroleum Company processes all its associated gas at its three NGL NGL - A dialect of IGL. plants in Umm Said, which produce propane, butane and condensate for export, as well as feedstock for industries and fuel for seawater desalination desalination
or desalting
Removal of dissolved salts from seawater and from the salty waters of inland seas, highly mineralized groundwaters, and municipal wastewaters.
..... Click the link for more information. plants and power stations. The three plants have the capacity to produce a total of 4.6m t/y of butane, propane, natural gasoline, naphtha naphtha (năp`thə, năf`–), term usually restricted to a class of colorless, volatile, flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures. , condensate and ethane-rich gas.
Associated gas has been extracted from the Dukhan region since oil production began in 1949, but it was originally used solely in field operations. It began to be utilised for power generation when the first gasline across the country was completed in 1962 enabling 25 MCF/day of gas to be carried from Dukhan to Doha. Non-associated gas is also utilised by local industry and desalination and power plants. The development of production facilities for the non-associated gas of the Khuff reservoir in Dukhan dates back to 1980-1981, when two gas plants with a combined production capacity of 150 MCF/day were installed.
Onshore associated gas produced with crude oil is separated at the degassing stations in the Dukhan field. The gas is collected from the separators and, after compression at field stations, flows to a stripping plant at Fahaheel. After the heavy ends are liquefied and removed, lean gas is routed to the domestic gas distribution system.
Offshore associated gas is separated from crude oil at three gas/oil separator plants at the ISND ISND Information Security News Desk (blog) , Maydan Mahzam, and Bul Hanine fields. The gas is compressed at each of the platforms. Mixed liquids are brought ashore through an 85 km underwater pipeline and carried to an NGL plant at Umm Said.
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