QatarGas achieves record LNG production

QatarGas announced that it has produced a total of 10.09 mm tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2008, setting a new record for annual LNG production since the company began producing LNG in late 1996.
In December 2008, the company had set a new record for daily production with 65,830 cm of LNG. The above production comes from the company's three LNG trains at the onshore plant in Ras Laffan.

QatarGas Chief Executive Officer, Mr Faisal Al-Suwaidi said: "This is truly a remarkable achievement and I would like to congratulate and thank all those who have made this possible. This is the result of the hard work, dedication and team work by everyone involved -- the various QatarGas teams as well as the contractor work force."
"What makes this achievement even more significant is that it was achieved safely and without any Lost Time Incidents. Safety is a core value in all our activities and this is what we continue to focus on in our existing operations as well as expansion projects."

Fred Smeenk, QatarGas Chief Operating Officer -- Operations said: "The QatarGas LNG plant is the industry pace setter for reliability, availability and utilization. This means that we are able to maximize the potential of our plant by ensuring minimal downtime."
QatarGas pioneered LNG production in Qatar in late 1996. The company began operations as a three train LNG project with a total production of 6 mm tpy of LNG. The production capacity was increased to nearly 10 mm tpy following the completion of a debottlenecking project in 2005.

Massive expansion projects that are currently underway in QatarGas include QatarGas 2, QatarGas 3, QatarGas 4 and Laffan Refinery.
When these expansion projects are completed, QatarGas' total LNG production is expected to reach 42 mm tpy.