RasGas and BOC Sign Helium SPA Implementation Procedure
Posted: 29 August 2005
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RasGas Company Limited, the operator of the Ras Laffan helium production, storage, loading and sales facilities, and BOC Group Inc. (BOC) signed today an agreement on the implementation procedures of a joint helium Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA).
The long-term SPA linking the selling party composed of Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural  Gas Company Limited (II) and Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited (Qatargas) and the purchasing party represented by BOC was originally signed in March 2003.
The signing ceremony was held at Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC) and was attended by senior officials from RasGas, Qatargas and BOC.
This new SPA Implementation Pr ocedure agreement marks a major milestone towards supplying Qatar ’s liquefied helium to BOC over a period of 20 years expected to commence by September 2005. The terms of the implementation procedure will assist RasGas and BOC in administering the SPA and in meeting their respective contractual obligations.
For BOC, the sale and purchase of 950 thousand standard cubic feet (scf) of helium per day for a 20-year period would boost its helium business capacity by about 15 per cent. Thanks to the new SPA, BOC would be in a stronger position to respond to the steadily rising demand for helium in the Middle East and Asian markets. As for the transportation of helium, the SPA Implementation P r ocedure stipulates that RasGas would assume responsibility for delivering the helium at Ras Laffan Helium Plant while BOC would be entrusted with the task of land and sea transportation to the various target markets.
In a bid to meet the SPA supply requirements, the sellers involved in the SPA signed an Engineering, Pr ocurement and Construction (EPC) contract in March 2003 for the construction of Qatar ’s first helium plant. The new facility is fitted with highly specialized technological equipment as the liquefaction process of helium is conducted at -269 degrees Celsius. The helium production unit is slated to produce an initial 660 million scf of helium per year. As such, Qatar is poised to become a global leading producer of helium, thanks mainly to the steady expansion of LNG production in Ras Laffan. By 2010, Qatar is expected to become the second largest producer of helium capturing around 20 per cent share of world market.
For its part, BOC has already completed construction works of a new helium container staging facility and set up an operations office in Dubai , UAE. The container staging facility will be commissioned in line with RasGas’ initial helium container delivery. BOC has awarded a three-year contract to TRISTAR TRANSPORT, an affiliate of PWC Logistics, to handle its logistics operations part of land/sea transportation movement between Qatar and UAE.
At present, BOC Group supplies helium through a major global distribution network consisting of six contracted sources of supply and 47 local transfill facilities. Twenty of these transfills are located in the Middle East and Asia regions.
Posted by Editor Pipeline Magazine
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