The Peninsula reported that major construction of the Pearl Gas to Liquids project is expected to be complete by the end of this year with production ramp up in 2011.

Pearl GTL is being developed by Qatar Petroleum and Shell includes the construction of the largest GTL plant in the world at Ras Laffan Industrial City.

Pearl GTL is the largest energy project ever launched in the State of Qatar. It will produce liquid fuels, baseoils for lubricants and chemical feed stocks from natural gas, opening new markets for Qatar's natural resources. It will also produce significant quantities of natural gas liquids and ethane.

The company said that the first of 2 platform structures for the GTL project has been lifted onto its jacket or legs, in a carefully planned feat of engineering 60 kilometers off the Qatar coast.

The Pearl 1 topside structure has a lift weight of 1,840 tonnes, as much as 800 Toyota Land cruisers and is the size of 10 storey office building. It was lifted precisely into place, with just millimeters of tolerance, above the legs and then successfully lowered over 11 pre drilled wells. The installation was carried out using contractor J Ray McDermott's derrick barge DB-27 in a 2 hour operation.

Welding of the topside to the jacket started immediately, followed by the lifting of the heli deck and flare boom structures. The next step is the hook up and commissioning of the platform systems. The topside has five decks of production, control and testing equipment, including 90 kilometers of control cable within the structure. The facility will be connected to 11 wells drilled into the natural gas reservoir deep below the sea bed. In normal operation Pearl 1 will be unmanned, with crew visiting by boat for regular maintenance. All processing of the natural gas will be conducted onshore.

Mr Andy Brown Shell's executive VP & MD of the Pearl GTL project said that "This was a challenging lift conducted safely and efficiently to exacting standards by a team of true professionals. I congratulate them on their achievement. The completion of the Pearl 1 platform structure is another step towards completion of Pearl GTL as a whole."

(Sourced from the Peninsula)