RasGas Chief Executive Officer, Hamad Rashid Al Mohannadi speaking on an executive leadership panel
discussion on the inaugural day of Gastech in Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. (Photo: RasGas of Qatar)
Asia’s growing energy requirements calls for supply from a diverse portfolio of established liquefied natural gas (LNG) producers and developers with proven records of reliability and stability, said RasGas Company Limited’s (RasGas) Chief Executive Officer, Hamad Rashid Al Mohannadi, at Gastech in Seoul, on March 24.
Speaking on an executive leadership panel discussion entitled ‘Developing the Next Wave of Gas Supply to Asia-Pacific Markets’ on the inaugural day of the four-day event, Al Mohannadi highlighted the fact that Asian customers need to remain focused on projects with strong and economically viable resources which are serviced by reliable and experienced developers and operators.
“Qatar’s stable political and economic environment provides context for the continued reliable supply of LNG from existing LNG production facilities with a compelling and proven track record that is undisputedly world class. I believe the country is ideally positioned to lead the global shift toward the increased use of gas and to meet the expanding requirements for LNG in Asia. And RasGas has the technical and commercial expertise to deliver a secure, safe and reliable supply of LNG today and for years to come,” said Al Mohannadi.
Speaking on the growing uses of LNG, Al Mohannadi pointed out that it is not only sought for fuel in power generation and industrial uses, but has rapidly gained acceptance as a fuel for shipping and large-scale road haulage. He cited the shift towards LNG powered ships in Australia, South Korea and the European Union (EU) all of which are pushing ahead with pilot schemes, backed by policy makers.
“Qatar recently launched a project to convert a Q-Max vessel to use LNG as an alternative to heavy fuel oil. This allows us to further reduce emissions and provide greater flexibility of marine fuel supply,” he added.
The Gastech conference and exhibition is held approximately once every 18 months. This is RasGas’ ninth consecutive participation in the industry event for which it is also a strategic sponsor. The Qatar delegation was led by HE Dr Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry.
About RasGas
RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) is a Qatari joint stock company established in 2001 by Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil RasGas Inc. RasGas acts as the operating company for and on behalf of the owners of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects RL, RL (II) and RL3 (Project Owners). With operations facilities based in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar, RasGas’ principal activities are to extract, process, liquefy, store and export LNG and its derivatives from Qatar’s North Field. RasGas, on behalf of the Project Owners, exports to countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas with a total LNG production capacity of approximately 37 million tonnes per annum.
For pipeline sales gas to the domestic market, RasGas also operates the Al Khaleej Gas Projects, AKG-1 and AKG-2 supplying approximately 2.0 billion standard cubic feet (Bscf) per day. RasGas is currently adding production capacity by building the Barzan Gas Project which when fully operational in 2015, is expected to supply approximately 1.4 Bscf of additional sales gas per day to the Qatari market to meet growing demand for energy at power stations and downstream industries.
RasGas currently operates the Ras Laffan Helium Plant which was established in 2003 and came on stream in 2005. The plant extracts, purifies and liquefies helium from the North Field. The second helium plant entered production in June 2013 bringing the total liquid helium production capacity to 1.96 Bscf per year. www.rasgas.com
