Qatar’s RasGas has awarded the Helium 3’s sales and purchase agreement (SPA) and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement to Air Products and Chiyoda AlMana respectively
The new Helium 3 Plant, which is expected to produce up to 11.3mn cu/m of helium gas, will be located in Ras Laffan Industrial City and is expected to become operational in early 2018.
In addition to being awarded the SPA contract for the long-term helium supply, Air Products also won the technology license to supply the helium licensor package equipment for the new Helium 3 plant.
Qatar Petroleum (QP) president, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, said that the signing of the agreements is an important building block for Qatar’s third Helium project that symbolised QP’s policy and continuous efforts to utilise the state’s hydrocarbon resources and create added value for its national economy.
The Helium 3 Project will be managed and operated by RasGas on behalf of Barzan shareholders — QP and ExxonMobil.
“The Helium 3 project’s source of supply is unique with extraction processes unlike any of the previous two helium plants. This is a new achievement for RasGas and I am pleased with our ability to leverage existing available capabilities in the country,” added CEO of RasGas Hamad Mubarak Al-Muhannadi.
RasGas also manages and operates Ras Laffan Helium 1 and 2. Helium 2 set a production record when it reached 100 per cent production capacity less than a year after its startup.
Helium is essential to many applications such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); fibre optics and semiconductor manufacturing; metallurgy; breathing atmospheres for deep diving or unique blood gas medical mixtures; lifting for high altitude scientific research balloons, blimps; and other advanced applications.
With a projected helium demand growth forecast, the Helium 3 Project will contribute towards filling the supply gap that the global helium market might experience in the future, according to industry sources.
