Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil Corporation have announced the launch of operations at the Al Khaleej Gas-Phase 2 (AKG-2) project, one of the strategic development projects of the North Field.

The project, which will have 1,250 million cubic feet per day (mcfd) of sales gas capacity, initiated operations in December 2009, said the two companies on Tuesday.

The new facilities are designed to meet the growing demand of local industries, said Abdulla Bin Hamad Al-Attyiah, Deputy Premier Minister of Energy and Industry and chairman and managing director of Qatar Petroleum.

'Combined with Al Khaleej Gas-Phase 1, which began production in 2005, AKG will have a total capacity of 2,000 mcfd, making it the largest source of domestic gas supply in Qatar,' he stated. 

'We consider the AKG project as one of the strategic development projects of the North Field as it supplies gas to various power and desalination plants, as well as petrochemical and other energy intensive industries in Qatar,' Al-Attyiah noted.

'This project is another example of our long-term relationship with ExxonMobil that is based upon mutual benefits,' he added.

“This is another major achievement to ensure the optimal use of Qatar’s hydrocarbon resources to meet increasing local demand and contribute to further development of Qatar’s industrial base. This project is helping to support the country’s rapid economic expansion,” Al Attyiah said.

ExxonMobil said it had utilized state-of-the-art technologies, including its proprietary Fast Drill and well completion technologies, to reduce drilling time and optimize the costs of the new North Field wells.

“Working in partnership, Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil are successfully commercializing the world’s largest non-associated natural gas field,” said Neil Duffin, president of ExxonMobil Development Company.

“This is another major achievement to ensure the optimal use of Qatar’s hydrocarbon resources to meet increasing local demand and contribute to further development of Qatar’s industrial base. This project is helping to support the country’s rapid economic expansion.”

The AKG-2 project involved construction of onshore gas treating, liquids recovery and fractionation facilities and two additional offshore wellhead platforms.

The onshore facilities are integrated with the Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (3) facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City. Initial production occurred in December 2009, he added.-TradeArabia News Service