First Cargo of Pearl GTL Products Ship From Qatar
By Royal Dutch Shell Plc, PRNESunday, June 12, 2011
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, June 13, 2011 -
Qatar Petroleum and Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) (NYSE: RDS.B) today
announced that the Pearl gas-to-liquids
(GTL) plant, located in Ras
Laffan Industrial City in the State of Qatar, has
sold its first commercial shipment
of GTLGasoil.
The sale marks the start of production of GTL products when the
State of Qatar and Shell, the operator of the Pearl GTL plant,
begin to receive revenue from the project. Over the coming months,
production will ramp up from the first production unit (’train’) of
the Pearl GTL project. The second train is expected to start up
before the end of 2011. The plant is expected to reach full
production capacity by the middle of 2012 and is the largest energy
project ever launched in the State of Qatar.
(Photo:
His Excellency Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada, Qatar’s Minister
of Energy and Industry said: “The Pearl GTL project will play an
important role in further enhancing our diversification of the
North Field gas utilisation and will support the optimisation of
Qatar’s competitive position in the world markets by supplying high
quality GTL products. I wish the Qatar Petroleum and Shell teams
all the success in bringing this project into full production
safely and successfully.”
Peter Voser, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell said:
“Today’s milestone provides further evidence that innovative
technology and strong partnerships can help meet the world’s
growing need for energy. I would like to thank Qatar Petroleum and
the State of Qatar for their support throughout, to make such a
substantial project possible.”
Once fully operational, Pearl GTL is expected to produce 1.6
billion cubic feet of gas per day from the North Field, which will
be processed to deliver an expected 120,000 barrels per day of
condensate, LPG and ethane and an expected 140,000 barrels per day
of gas-to-liquids (GTL) products using Shell’s unique technological
and project management capabilities.
Shell is the operator of the Pearl GTL plant developed under a
Development and Production Sharing Agreement with the Government of
the State of Qatar. The Pearl GTL project was launched in July 2006
and the first stone was laid in February 2007 by His Highness
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Heir Apparent.
At the peak of construction at Pearl GTL, the project employed
52,000 workers. By the end of 2010, major construction was
complete. On 23 March 2011, gas began flowing from wells 60
kilometres offshore. Then the gas processing plant began producing
condensate, LPG and sulphur and four of the world’s largest air
separation units began producing oxygen. The GTL plant, which
employs Shell proprietary technology, was brought into production
in May and converts the gas and oxygen to GTL wax. In the last step
of the process, the waxes are cracked and distilled into finished
GTL products.
Pearl GTL is expected to produce a number of high-quality GTL
products for sale in oil product markets around the world: GTL
Kerosene for blending into a clean burning aviation fuel; GTL
Gasoil, a clean-burning diesel-type automotive fuel; GTL Base Oils
for premium lubricants; GTL Normal Paraffin for detergents; and GTL
Naphtha, a high-paraffin feedstock for the petrochemical
industry.
Pearl pictures (including aerial shot of Pearl GTL plant at Ras
Laffan) can be downloaded here:
?
www.flickr.com/photos/royaldutchshell/5552175781/in/set-72157623792015947
Caption: Aerial view of the Pearl GTL plant in Ras Laffan,
Qatar.
Cautionary
Note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and
indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press
release “Shell”, “Shell group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are
sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal
Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the
words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to subsidiaries
in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are
also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the
particular company or companies. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell
subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this press release
refer to companies in which Royal Dutch Shell either directly or
indirectly has control, by having either a majority of the voting
rights or the right to exercise a controlling influence. The
companies in which Shell has significant influence but not control
are referred to as “associated companies” or “associates” and
companies in which Shell has joint control are referred to as
“jointly controlled entities”. In this press release, associates
and jointly controlled entities are also referred to as
“equity-accounted investments”. The term “Shell interest” is used
for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect (for
example, through our 24% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.)
ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or
company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
This press release contains forward-looking statements
concerning the financial condition, results of operations and
businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than
statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be,
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
statements of future expectations that are based on management’s
current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results,
performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or
implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include,
among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of
Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing
management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts,
projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are
identified by their use of terms and phrases such as
‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘expect’’,
‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’,
‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘will’’, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘target’’,
‘‘risks’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘should’’ and similar terms and phrases.
There are a number of factors that could affect the future
operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to
differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking
statements included in this press release, including (without
limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas;
(b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency
fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves
estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g)
environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the
identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and
targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such
transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing
countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j)
legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including
regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and
financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l)
political risks, including the risks of expropriation and
renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities,
delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in
the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading
conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this press
release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary
statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should
not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional
factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch
Shell’s 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2010 (available at
and www.sec.gov ). These
factors also should be considered by the reader. Each
forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press
release, 13 June, 2011. Neither Royal Dutch Shell nor any of its
subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise
any forward-looking statement as a result of new information,
future events or other information. In light of these risks,
results could differ materially from those stated, implied or
inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this
press release.
We may have used certain terms in this press release, such as
resources, that the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in
filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely
the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the
SEC website www.sec.gov. You can also obtain these forms
from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.
For enquiries:
Qatar Petroleum
Qatar Petroleum: Sultan Al-Abdulla +97444946445
Shell Media Relations
Qatar: Maartje Snellen,
+974-44957740
Group: Kirsten Smart,
+31-70-3773600
Shell Investor Relations
Europe - Tjerk Huysinga: + 31-70-377-3996
United States - Ken Lawrence: +1-713-241-2069
.
Tags: June 13, Netherlands, Qatar, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, The hague
