5000TH LNG Vessel Loads At Ras Laffan Port

Doha, June 21 (QNA) - A significant milestone was reached on 21st June 2011 when the LNG tanker "Al-Ghuwairiya" berthed at Ras Laffan to load her LNG cargo bound for CANAPORT, Canada.
The chartered vessel is one of the new generation Q-Max LNG tanker able to load a full LNG cargo of 260,000 cubic meters. The vessel is owned by the Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat).
LNG is produced by the two major Qatar Petroleum (QP) joint venture industries, Qatargas and RasGas, who are both based in Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLC) which is managed and administered by Qatar Petroleum.
Speaking on the occasion RLC Director Abdulaziz Al-Muftah said: "Such achievement would not have been possible without the close collaboration of all the involved companies." He added that it took about 15 years to reach this milestone but now with full production of 77 million tons per annum from Qatargas and RasGas, the 10,000 LNG vessel milestone will be achieved in about 5 years' time".
He added that RLC is proud to be a partner with these ventures in delivering clean energy to the world.
Qatargas first cargo bound for Japan sailed from Ras Laffan Port on 23rd December 1996 on the LNG tanker "AL ZUBARAH". Since then, the company has steadily increased its production and customer base and is now the world s largest LNG producer at 42 million tons per annum.
The Qatargas 7th LNG train was commissioned in late 2010 and marked the culmination of HH the Emir s vision to reach a total of 77 million tons per annum capacity from the two producing companies Qatargas and RasGas.
RasGas LNG production commenced in 1998 Its first cargo was shipped out on 23rd June 1999 on the LNG tanker "GIMI" bound for LAKE CHARLES in the USA. The company now operates 7 LNG trains with a total LNG production capacity of 35 million tons per annum.
With RLC providing the common facilities of land, infrastructure, port and the common cooling water, the companies based in Ras Laffan are in a strong position of growth and prosperity.
The Port is ultra-modern and one of the top exporting ports in the Middle-East and Asia regions. With six operational LNG berths, the port is the world's premier LNG exporting facility and the only gateway for Qatar s LNG. (QNA)