With Qatar bringing online an additional 875MW of solar power capacity this year, gas demand growth from the power sector is set to be limited in the near term. As such, the emirate intends to connect a major domestic-focused gas complex to the country’s nearby LNG export facilities in order to enable the export of displaced gas volumes, affording it more operational flexibility.
The Barzan Gas Plant was finally commissioned in 2022, after initially starting up in 2020 (MEES, 2 April 2021), and processes around 1.9bn cfd of raw gas into 1.4bn cfd of sales gas, 6,000 t/d of ethane, 1,500 t/d of LPG and 30,000 b/d of condensate. Developed by QatarEnergy (93%) and ExxonMobil (7%), the Barzan plant provides output solely for the domestic market, where gas demand has fallen in early 2024 despite record power demand. QatarEnergy LNG therefore sees the Barzan Gas Diversion Project (BGDP) “as a top priority, commencing operations as soon as possible.” (CONTINUED - 677 WORDS)