GTL plants - big and small

Natural gas began to flow to the Pearl gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility in Qatar in March, allowing sections of the plant to be started-up over the following few months. Covering an area equivalent to New York’s Central Park, this 260,000 b/d GTL plant is the largest built anywhere in the world. Chevron, meanwhile, is building a 33,000 b/d facility in the Niger Delta, and a UK-based company has developed a compact GTL plant that could be installed on a floating production unit offshore Brazil. Jeff Crook reports.