MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
More than three years have passed since the 2008 financial crisis, yet global economic recovery remains fragile and sluggish. In 2011, weaknesses in major developed economies continued to drag down the global recovery whilst there was continuing uncertainty due to the euro zone debt crisis and slower growth in the US economy. Moreover, the instability across the Middle East and North Africa has further clouded the industry climate.
Under these circumstances, Qatar Petroleum has to respond by developing robust plans commensurate with these economic and political challenges in order to ensure the availability of hydrocarbon products required by the various economic sectors in the State of Qatar, in order to fulfill its responsibility toward the national economy and to meet customers’ needs and its contractual obligations.
The ambitious infrastructure and other industrial development plans embarked upon by the State of Qatar are expected to boost the demand for energy over the next decade. The mega projects in the transportation sector, the new airport and seaport that are being built, the rapidly expanding health and education sectors and the new facilities for the FIFA World Cup in 2022 will need additional power and desalinated water supplies.
In order to meet the country’s future needs for clean burning natural gas in the power and water sectors and to provide feedstock to the local petrochemical and refining industries, Qatar Petroleum has commenced the construction of the strategic multi-faceted Barzan gas project. This project, which is expected to be fully operational by 2014, is an essential building block for Qatar's future and will bring extensive benefits to many local industries.
In line with the development strategy of Qatar Petroleum, Ras Girtas Power Company inaugurated Qatar’s largest power plant at Ras Laffan Industrial City. This plant has a design capacity of 2,730 MW of electric power and 63 million gallons of desalinated water daily. With this capacity addition, Qatar’s power and drinking water capacities have risen to 9,000 MW and 325 million gallons a day, respectively.
Another development that symbolizes the commitment and ability of Qatar Petroleum to live up to its responsibility towards national development is the plan to increase the production of refined products through the construction of the second Laffan condensate refinery. The refinery will meet the projected demand for various petroleum products, which will be required to sustain the high growth rate of the Qatar economy. The second Laffan condensate refinery is currently at the engineering stage and is expected to be commissioned by 2016.
Qatar’s position as the world’s largest LNG producer was reinforced with the start-up of the Qatargas seventh and final mega train, which has a production capacity of 7.8 million tons per annum. Being a main LNG producer, we are attentive to our customers’ needs by maintaining supply and responding to any unforeseen demand from current or prospective customers.
The industrial sector in Qatar celebrated another major milestone in 2011 with the inauguration of the world’s largest gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant, Pearl GTL, at Ras Laffan Industrial City. A joint venture of Qatar Petroleum and Shell, Pearl GTL represents the world’s first realization of GTL technology applied on a world-scale basis and will have the capacity to produce 140,000 barrels per day of GTL products.
The industrial diversification of the Qatar economy is further underpinned by the inauguration of another addition to the petrochemical industry with the completion of the QAFCO-5 project, making Qatar the world’s largest single-site producer of ammonia and urea.
Besides being recognized as one of the leading oil and gas companies in the world, Qatar Petroleum has proved its versatility by organizing world-scale events. During 2011, Qatar Petroleum hosted the 20th World Petroleum Congress, a major industry event held for the first time ever in the Middle East region. The five-day event was attended by a record number of participants, consisting of top government officials, the senior management of oil and gas companies and industry professionals from all over the world.
Similarly, Qatar Petroleum organized the first summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), an international organization whose members account for up to 70% of the world’s proven gas reserves.
Through this journey of success and achievements, Qatar Petroleum has never compromised the environment, safety and health of our society. Continuous and close monitoring and control of emissions and pollution was one of the key factors of our success as a major contributor to our economic and social development.
Achieving those goals has never been possible without the continuous and faithful efforts of our employees, partners and contractors, who are working hard to differentiate Qatar Petroleum as an international player in the oil and gas Industry.
Surely, there are upcoming challenges, but we are quite confident and optimistic about the bright future of Qatar Petroleum as a main national organization that will continue to work for the prosperity of our nation.
HE Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada
Minister of Energy & Industry
Chairman & Managing Director, Qatar Petroleum