Second largest helium producer

After signing a joint venture to launch a US$500 million joint venture helium plant in the Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar will become the world's second largest helium producer by 2013.

The venture will be the second helium project to be built in Qatar, with the first 700 million cubic feet per year capacity plant coming on stream in 2005.

Helium sales from the Qatar Helium 2 Project are expected to reach 1.3 billion cubic feet per year with the crude helium by-product recovered from the joint venture partners making Qatar second only to the US in terms of helium production.

Helium is used in medical diagnostics such as MRI scanners and has industrial applications for semiconductor processing, fiber optics and welding. It is the second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen.

The engineering, procurement and construction contract

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build the world's largest liquefied helium refining unit to purify and liquefy crude helium gas recovered from Qatar's North Field was awarded to Air Liquide of France yesterday.

Sales and purchase agreements were also signed with Air Liquide for 50 percent of the production; with Linde Gases, a division of the Linde Group of Germany, for 30 percent; and with Iwatani Corporation of Japan for 20 percent.

Chiyoda Al Mana Engineering Company Limited will play a role as the EPC management services provider responsible for constructing the extraction units that will feed the Helium Recovery Unit to be built by Air Liquide.

Zawya state that the Qatar Helium 2 Project, which will start production in early 2013, is a joint venture between Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited 2, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited 3, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited 4 andRas Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited. It will be managed and operated by RasGas Company Limited.

"Qatar's North Field reservoir contains the largest proven helium reserves in the world. This will enable Qatar to meet the anticipated world demand growth for years to come," said the Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry, H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah at the signing ceremony.

He added that since 2000, world demand for helium had increased by around 20 percent.

Worldwide demand for helium currently stands at around six billion cubic feet per year, although this figure is expected to increase by around 30 percent by 2020. With the combined production of helium from the two facilities reaching two billion cubic feet per year, Qatar's production will account for about a third of worldwide production, making them the second largest helium producer.

 

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