Shell expects big boost from Qatar gas projects
Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s two mammoth natural-gas projects in Qatar will increase the company’s cash flow by $4 billion a year when they start up in 2011 and give a big boost to the company’s output, said Peter Voser, Shell’s chief executive.
Speaking to reporters in London, Mr. Voser said the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant and Qatargas 4, a liquefied-natural-gas development, would deliver 350,000 barrels a day of oil—some 10% of Shell’s current output.
“These projects combined will have a substantial impact on Shell’s world-wide production [and] generate sustained positive cash flows for decades to come,” he said. Income from the Qatar ventures will underpin Shell’s next wave of new investments, he said.
Mr. Voser was speaking after Shell took analysts round Pearl and Qatargas 4, two projects that are vital to the company’s growth strategy. With a price tag of $18 billion to $19 billion, Pearl—which will convert Qatari natural gas into diesel and other high-value oil products—is the biggest single project in the global oil industry and is also the world’s largest GTL development.
Read the rest of this entry »
