The key components of the project are two world’s largest LNG trains and associated facilities at Ras Laffan, a fleet comprising 14 super LNG tankers and a regasification terminal at Wales in the UK.
Qatargas 2’s two LNG trains have 7.8mn tonnes per year capacity each. Production capacity is 15.6mn tonnes per year.
About 2.9bn cu ft of gas a day is required to produce 15.6mn tonnes of LNG a year.
The LNG process involves four stages – offshore, onshore, shipping and distribution.
Qatargas 2 and its owners- Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil and Total – have achieved “several milestones” in the process of setting up offshore and onshore facilities in Qatar and shipping and regasification facilities.
Two Qatargas trains – Train 4 and Train 5 – will supply LNG to South Hook terminal at Milford Haven in Wales, the UK.
The terminal, jointly set up by Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil and Total, has an annual regasification capacity of 16mn tonnes per year.
The owners of Qatargas Train 4 are QP (70%) and ExxonMobil (30%) and of Train 5 are QP (65%), ExxonMobil (18.3%) and Total (16.7%). On an average, one LNG cargo will be dispatched to the UK from Qatargas 2 every three days.
Qatargas 2 has the capability to meet 20% of the UK’s natural gas needs.
It involved the development of two world class LNG trains, three storage tanks, power utilities and water injection systems as well as a fleet of 14 state-of-the-art liquefied natural gas tankers.
All 14 LNG ships meant for the Qatargas 2 project have been delivered by South Korean builders. They are a mix of eight Q-Flex and six Q-Max ships, the world’s largest LNG carriers.
The vessels were built at South Korean yards owned by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The $ 13bn investment in the project is set to provide prosperity to the country for hundreds of years.
Qatargas is well on its course to achieve a production capacity of about 42mn tonnes per year within two to three years.
