RasGas Company Limited (RasGas), the operator of Ras Laffan’s helium production, storage, loading and sales facilities, has delivered its 5,000th cargo of helium from the Helium-1 plant, further cementing Qatar’s position as one of the world’s leading helium producers and exporters
RasGas’ chief marketing & shipping officer, Khalid Sultan R. Al Kuwari said, “Qatar has two key advantages as one of the most prominent helium exporters. First, our liquefied natural gas (LNG), and thus helium, is derived from multiple upstream projects, positioning us as a reliable choice in the market and setting us apart from single-source suppliers. Second, our multiple LNG trains and two helium plants make Qatar uniquely flexible in our production capabilities.”
RasGas awarded the Sales and Purchase Agreement and Engineering, Procurement and Construction Agreement for the Helium-3 plant in October 2015, to Air Products and Chiyoda AlMana respectively. The plant, which is expected to produce up to 0.4bn scf of liquid helium per annum, will be located in Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City and is expected to become operational in early 2018.
The Helium-1 plant was established in 2003 and came on stream in 2005. The plant extracts, purifies and liquefies helium from the North Field. The second helium plant entered production in June 2013, bringing total liquid helium production capacity to 1.96bn scf per year.
Market studies show that world demand for helium has increased by 2.7 per cent since 2013, and demand in Asia is expected to grow at 4.5 per cent per year to 2020.
Helium has high value applications in science, medicine and high-tech industries, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), fibre optics and metallurgy.
