Qatargas, a pioneer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Qatar, has delayed the start-up of its new Ras Laffan 2 (LR2) condensate splitter to October 2016, reported Trade Arabia.
Qatar planned to start up the 146,000b/d condensate splitter during September but further delays to a technical fault has pushed it to October, according to Doha Insight.
Qatar International Petroleum Marketing Company Ltd. (Tasweeq) did not specify how this delay will impact naphtha sells with a forth-quarter loading date. Qatar, which usually prefers to tie up most of its naphtha through long-term contracts, had previously offered through tenders a total of 200,000t of spot naphtha for October loading. Tasweeq is also offering October-loading Deodorized Field Condensate (DFC) cargoes for sale. The cargoes traded at around .
50-$2.90 a barrel to benchmark Dubai quotes.
The Ras Laffan 2 condensate splitter processes DFC.
Laffan Refinery, Qatar’s first condensate refinery, started production in September 2009. The facility started with a processing capacity of 146,000b/d and currently utilizes the field condensate produced from the Qatargas and RasGas facilities. The Laffan Refinery currently has a production capacity of 61,000b/d of naphtha, 52,000b/d of kerojet, 24,000 bpsd of gasoil, and 9,000 bpsd of LPG, informed Qatar Gas’s website.
