Sunrise industry awaits the dawn
Oryx: the first full-scale commercial GTL plant to start next year
Next year the Oryx GTL plant, a Qatar Petroleum-Sasol joint venture at Ras Laffan will begin full-scale commercial production of 34,000 barrels per day of GTL products. Building a plant like this is no small undertaking and the Oryx team is leading the way, delivering a notable series of firsts. George Couvaras, CEO of Sasol Chevron, shares his enthusiasm for GTL – the fuel of the future.
GTL is the story of new generation clean energy, delivered through the unlocking of natural gas reserves, and at the same time setting new standards in fuel quality.
It is not only a story about technology - it is a story of successful co-operation between key stakeholders; the producers, the vehicle manufacturers, the regulators, the refiners and, most important of all, the consumers.
GTL producers are growing in number and the commercial development of GTL is taking synthetic fuel production beyond its traditional base in South Africa.
Large commercial scale facilities are being developed in Qatar with Qatar Petroleum’s and Sasol’s Oryx GTL plant due to come on line early next year.
 There are plans for further GTL capacity addition in that country, which involve companies such as Shell and ExxonMobil, as well as my own company, Sasol Chevron.
These plans and plants are supported by a number of pilot-scale projects which, though too small to establish GTL as a commercial proposition on their own, have nonetheless provided valuable insights that are now being used to good effect.
Vehicle manufacturers are key stakeholders who are collaborating with GTL producers to develop and exploit the potential of a fuel that is almost entirely sulphur and aromatics free and with a cetane number far exceeding that of traditional diesel, a fuel that offers huge potential for improvements in engine performance and tailpipe emissions.
Governments and regulators are looking at GTL for the potential it offers in answering the challenges of urban air quality and in diversifying their energy and fuels mix.
Refiners are already looking to GTL as a high quality blend stock with which to optimise refining operations to meet the challenges of increasing diesel demand and quality.
Energy companies with viable commercial GTL capability now have a valuable gas monetisation option to offer their partners, be they national energy companies or independents.
For gas-rich countries with an eye to exports, GTL offers the opportunity to deliver a top quality energy product into a very large global transport market – a market that has until now been beyond the reach of natural gas.
The high quality of GTL products means that they have the power to penetrate fuels markets and to realise the premium value of a top quality finished product as opposed to the lower value and limited markets of a raw material.
The qualities of GTL products and the demand they are expected to generate mean that a GTL producing nation has a product that could enable it to forge strategic trading partnerships.
In addition, for countries which have traditionally flared gas in the course of developing oilfields, the acquisition of GTL technology delivers a revenue-earning associated gas solution that could enhance the economics of future oilfield developments as well as realizing earnings from an asset that was previously treated as a waste product.
The series of LNG developments announced in the past 18 months will, with time, be balanced by a growing suite of GTL projects.
Qatar and Nigeria are the first movers and this will undoubtedly give them market advantage but the industry as a whole is still in its infancy and this means that there are still great opportunities for those with the resources and the will to make the most of them.
The GTL industry is a sunrise industry, yet it is an industry that I have no doubt will play a significant part in the energy future of our planet. GTL stands at the threshold of its commercial future but it has already made the breakthroughs required to establish itself as an attractive and commercially viable gas monetisation option.
|
