largest gas-to-liquids plant, near
Doha, Qatar, turns natural gas into
cleaner burning fuels and other
speciality products.
GTL is an important part of Shell’s gas monetisation capabilities. We are uniquely positioned to make GTL a success through our commercial capability and our in-house GTL technology – from smaller scale such as our Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis (SMDS) plant in Malaysia, which can produce 14,700 b/d, to large scale developments such as Pearl GTL with a design 140,000 b/d product capacity.
Shell’s GTL technology is founded on four decades of research, development and commercial deployment. We continuously improve our GTL technology, enhance design, add new GTL products and refine the process. In 1993, the Shell SMDS plant started up in Bintulu, Malaysia. Since then we have filed more than 3,500 patents covering all stages of the GTL process. We used our proprietary technology and operational experience to build Pearl, Shell and Qatar Petroleum’s GTL plant in Qatar. Pearl ramp-up was completed in late 2012. In 2013 Pearl set a new quarterly production record in Q2, and loaded its 200th ship by the end of June.