First Product Produced from Oryx GTL

29 January 2007

The Oryx GTL (Gas-to-Liquids) plant in Qatar has successfully completed the start-up of the final process unit and has produced final GTL product.

The plant will produce 34,000 barrels per day of liquid hydrocarbons (primarily synthetic diesel) from about 330-million cubic feet per day of natural gas from Qatar’s North Field in the Persian Gulf.

Oryx works. We are producing GTL products and we are on target to have product ready for market by the end of the first quarter as previously announced.

—Chris Turner, General Manager of ORYX GTL

Oryx GTL is the first low-temperature Fischer-Tropsch GTL plant outside South Africa dedicated to the production of GTL diesel. The partners intend to increase the capacity of the plant to more than 100,000 bpd and are exploring the construction of a further 130,000 bpd extension of the existing plant. (Earlier post.)

Oryx GTL is a joint venture between state-owned petroleum company Qatar Petroleum (51%) and Sasol (49%).

The plant uses Sasol’s proprietary Slurry Phase Distillate process (SPD) which combines three commercial technologies: autothermal reforming for the production of synthesis gas from natural gas; slurry-phase Fischer-Tropsch synthesis for the conversion of the syngas to a waxy syncrude, and isocracking technology to upgrade the syncrude into liquid fuels. London-based Sasol Chevron will market the GTL diesel worldwide.