GE Oil & Gas technology helps boost Qatar to number one in global LNG production

Train 5 has a production capacity of 4.7 million tons of LNG per year, bringing Qatar's total LNG production capacity to approximately 31 million tons per year. LNG is one of the fastest growing segments of the global energy industry, and is expected to provide a major source of natural gas as part of the world's energy mix moving forward in the 21st century.

At a contractor awards appreciation ceremony held the night before the inauguration of Train 5 in March of 2007, GE Oil & Gas was among the project vendors receiving an appreciation award "for highly valued contributions to the successful completion of RasGas expansion projects, 2001-2007." The ceremony marked the first time RasGas has presented awards of this type.

The Train 5 project was completed ahead of time and under budget, according to Dr. Mohammed Saleh Al Sada, Minister of State for Energy and Industrial Affairs and Managing Director of RasGas, a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil. "The engineering, procurement and construction timetable was 30 months, a very challenging time-frame for such a project. The project was completed approximately two months ahead of schedule," he said.

Under a multi-million dollar contract received in 2004, GE Oil & Gas has supplied two Frame 7EA mechanical drive gas turbines, two Frame 6B gas turbine-generator packages, one Frame 5D residue gas compressor package, and one Rotoflow Frame 60 turbo expander-compressor for Train 5.

All of the gas turbines are equipped with GE Dry Low NOx combustion systems to meet the stringent NOx emissions levels required in Qatar. "This is the first installation of this technology in Qatar, and makes Train 5 one of the most environmentally friendly LNG plants in the country," said Claudi Santiago, GE Senior Vice President and President and CEO of GE Oil & Gas.

The GE Dry Low NOx combustion systems reduce nitrous oxide emissions by more than 85 percent, and it is planned that the technology will be applied to the new gas turbines for Trains 6 and 7 as well.

Train 5 is part of an on-going expansion project by RasGas that eventually will include seven trains totaling approximately 37 million tons of LNG per year, supporting Qatar's goal of 77 million tons of LNG production capacity per year by the end of the decade.

GE Oil & Gas also has supplied gas turbine drivers for RasGas Trains 1-4, and will provide 125-megawatt, Frame 9 gas turbine-driven compressors for Trains 6 and 7. These two LNG trains will each have a capacity of 7.8 million tons per year of LNG production, making them among the largest LNG plants ever built.

"We're extremely pleased that our technology has been chosen for these challenging LNG applications," said Santiago. "We are proud to be contributing to the growth of Qatar as the leading supplier of LNG globally."