Qatar will become one of the world's leading helium producers by 2010, with the launch of a $115m helium joint venture plant. It will be located at the Ras Laffan Industrial City, with Qatargas, RasGas and RasGas II supplying the helium. The contract for the design and construction of the plant was awarded to the French company Air Liquide Engineering SA on 21st May, 2003. The Minister of Energy and Chairman of Qatargas, HE Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah signed on behalf of Qatargas and Dr. Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, Vice Chairman on behalf of RasGas.
The plant owners have also concluded two separate long-term agreements with BOC Group Inc. and Air Liquide America LP for the installation of facilities required to extract helium from natural gas, purify and liquefy it for export.
The plant will be constructed over the next two years and have an annual production of 650 million standard cubic feet of helium. The first helium sale is expected in July 2005.
"This is just phase I. We hope to double production as we plan to be the world's top helium producer", said HE Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah. Currently, only a few countries produce helium including the US, Algeria and Australia. The US alone produces and consumes 60% of the world market share of helium. There are only 12 helium plants in the world today. One plant is currently under construction in Algeria and Ras Laffan will become the world's 14th helium plant.
Helium is colourless, odourless, non-reactive, safer and lighter than air. It is require for a number of commercial and industrial applications. It is the second most abundant element in the universe, but rarely found in concentrations that justify economic extraction. Due to its marginal presence in natural gas, extracting it for liquefaction is complicated, which makes it an expensive product. However, Qatargas' North Field, with its massive natural gas reserves, makes extraction economically viable. The key markets for Qatari helium on completion of the project include the Middle East and Asia. It is estimated that Qatar will account for about 15% of the world's helium market.
