QatarEnergy announced that it has inaugurated the Barzan Gas Plant in a special ceremony held at Ras Laffan Industrial City in attendance of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar.

The company said that the plant will produce and process natural gas from the North Field to meet local power generation and water desalinization needs.

It will also produce associated hydrocarbon products to supply the local refinery and petrochemical industries and to export to international markets.

In his speech at the inauguration ceremony, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, extended his thanks and appreciation to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar, for his unlimited guidance and support of the energy sector, and said: “This is one of the most important energy projects in the State of Qatar, which adds a high and qualitative value in the effort to meet our domestic natural gas needs, and in supporting Qatar’s comprehensive development and economic growth.”

His Excellency Minister Al-Kaabi added: “With the Barzan Plant’s various products, we have achieved our important objective of the optimal exploitation of our resources from the North Field, and provided the energy needed for electricity production and water desalination, in addition to the large development projects in the country, including the facilities for hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup and other strategic projects.”

During the construction phase, the project took over 130 million manhours with the workforce peaking at 30,000 workers on-site and complete without a Lost Time Incident.

The Barzan Gas Plant production capacity reaches almost 1.4 billion standard cubic feet of sales gas per day for local power generation and water desalination; 2,000 tons of ethane per day as feedstock to serve the local petrochemicals industry; 1,500 tons per day of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) which can be exported to international markets; 30,000 barrels of condensate per day for processing in the Laffan Refinery and export to international markets; and 3,500 tons of sulfur per day for export to international markets.

The plant is operated by Qatargas and owned by QatarEnergy with a stake of 93%. ExxonMobil holds a share of 7%.