JBOG project set to reduce Qatar’s carbon footprint

The $1bn Jetty Boil-off Gas Recovery (JBOG) Project, initiated by Qatar Petroleum, is one of the biggest environmental investments for “LNG boil-off recovery” in the world. The project will be formally inaugurated on April 28 under the patronage of HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani.Qatar’s carbon footprint will be considerably reduced with the Jetty Boil-off Gas Recovery Project at Ras Laffan gaining traction even as JBOG underlines the country’s strong commitment to protecting the environment.The key project has been designed to eliminate flaring during LNG ship loading at Ras Laffan Port.The main shareholders of the JBOG project are Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Total, ConocoPhillips and Shell, while the facilities are operated by Qatargas and RasGas, the two largest LNG producers in the world.The $1bn JBOG Project, initiated by Qatar Petroleum, is one of the biggest environmental investments for “LNG boil-off recovery” in the world.The project has had a “safe startup” late last year. The JBOG project will be formally inaugurated at Ras Laffan on April 28 under the patronage of HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani.JBOG is going to be an important constituent of the Common Facilities Projects at the Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLC), as it will recover and collect boiled-off gas from LNG ships during loading and the gas will then be compressed at a central facility. The development of the JBOG project was initiated by QP in 2004.The compressed gas obtained from the JBOG project is planned to be utilised by existing LNG assets of organisations such as Qatargas and RasGas either as feedstock to LNG trains or as fuel gas.The project, when fully operational, will recover the equivalent of about 0.6mn tonnes of gas LNG a year, which is sufficient to power more than 300,000 homes. This utilisation of the erstwhile flared gas will result in a saving of approximately 1tn cu ft of gas over a period of 30 years.The project design is based on the collection of the LNG boil-off gas from the LNG carriers and the transfer of this gas to a central compression area via large diameter stainless steel pipelines. At the central compression area, the gas is compressed and sent to the LNG trains for use as fuel gas or for conversion into LNG.The engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract for the project was awarded to US-based Fluor in February 2010. The detailed design and procurement services were carried out at Fluor’s offices in Sugar Land, Texas, and New Delhi, India. The main equipment on the project was supplied by General Electric, Emerson and ABB.The construction of the project started in Ras Laffan City in mid-2011, with the bulk of the site work executed by some of the leading construction contractors in Qatar, namely Ammico, STFA, Qcon, Qatar Kentz and Medgulf. The work site saw a peak of around 3,000 people working hard to finish the project.