Shell Pearl GTL - Abdullah Sallatt

Shell Pearl GTL - Abdullah Sallatt

Since gas was discovered,

in the initial stages, gas was not really a very important commodity;

it was not exportable.

When things developed

and we were able to industrialise some of the gas,

we started thinking about LNG and I’m glad to say

that from the time that we have started until just recently

we have celebrated the achievement of capacity to manufacture Philoco 5

and to export 77 million tonnes a year

and that makes us the largest producer of LNG in the world.

We have always been looking at other possibilities

of diversifying our export of natural gas.

So we think that the Pearl GTL Project is a very important step

towards diversifying the exports

and diversifying the economy of the State of Qatar.

This success story is a result

of His Excellency Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah

who has been our Minister of Energy and Industry.

He has been quite a successful leader.

Pearl, of course, is size-wise

so much larger than anything else we have done in the past.

The biggest challenge in fact has been the number of contractors

and at the same time, the shortage of qualified contractors

when we started the project.

And the shortage of qualified personnel

that these contractors can draw upon.

And also the shortage of material,

you know, the last five years that we have been in the project,

this has been the story.

But of course Shell brings in

a wealth of technical experience, of capabilities.

Shell has the experience of operating throughout the oil industry

all the way from upstream to downstream.

They have lots of qualified personnel.

They have the research and development capabilities.

And with the experience of also Qatar Petroleum

and managing a project for the last 15-20 years.

These two factors have worked wonders to achieve good results.

I believe that all our partners are really good.

You know, Qatar Petroleum representing the Government

chooses partners who have really a lot of experience

and a lot of capabilities.

Shell has really contributed a great deal to the project,

they have done a marvellous job in fact.

I’m looking forward to the commissioning of this project,

Pearl, of course, is very, very important to the State of Qatar.

And I’m certain that the commissioning will go beautifully

and the operation will be smooth.

I would like for Shell to continue in the same spirit

and not only with the Pearl GTL, but also, I hope,

in future projects that are within Qatar or also outside Qatar.