The first shipment of Shell Gas-To-Liquid (GTL) product from the Pearl plant has arrived in the US.
Shell's LNG ship Northwest Seaeagle Image: Shell |
The delivery arrived at the end of November at Shell's hub in Houston, Texas, and is the first output from the giant Pearl GTL plant in Qatar to reach the US. It landed only days after the official inauguration of the plant by the Emir of Qatar.
The Pearl plant is the flagship of the Shell GTL production facilities and is the largest of its kind in the world, based in Ras Laffan Industrial City near Doha. Main construction was completed at the end of last year, with the first production train powering up earlier this year.
The integrated upstream/downstream plant, built in partnership with Qatar Petroleum, is set to produce up to 140,000b/d of GTL products plus 120,000b/d of Natural Gas Liquids.
The US shipment delivered high-quality Group III base oils to the Houston hub where it will be distributed to various Shell plants across the US capable of converting GTL oil into premium motor oils.