TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA QATARGAS has completed 10 years of operations on its offshore facilities without a lost time incident - a significant milestone demonstrating the company’s outstanding safety performance.

This world class performance across the entire offshore facilities and operations is the result of the continuous and proven commitment to safety, by the company’s leadership and workforce. Expanding from a three to a nine platform facility, Qatargas Offshore facilities supply gas and condensate to the world’s largest LNG plant onshore, with a production capacity of 42 million tonnes per annum (MTA) of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The Qatargas offshore facilities are outstanding not only in terms of safety record, but also from a reliability perspective, ensuring sustained production of LNG from Qatargas’ onshore plant.

A ceremony was organised at the offshore facilities to mark the occasion and honour the team on the achievement.

The event was attended by Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa al Thani, Qatargas chief executive officer, Ghanim al Kuwari, chief operating officer – administration, Sheikh Khalid bin Abdulla al Thani, chief operating officer – engineering & ventures, Mats Gjers, chief operating officer – operations, Toufik Benmosbah, chief safety, environment & quality officer, and Abdelkader Haouari, offshore operations manager.

Addressing the offshore team, the Qatargas CEO conveyed thanks and appreciation from Minister of Energy & Industry and Chairman of Qatargas HE Dr Mohammed bin Saleh al Sada on this outstanding achievement.

He reiterated that safety comes before anything else and urged the team to continue the excellent performance.

Acknowledging the significance of the occasion, the CEO said: “Qatargas is very proud of this achievement which was made possible by the strong safety culture embedded in every aspect of our operations.

Incident and injury free operations can indeed be achieved when the management and the workforce together embrace safety as a core value.

We make every effort to ensure that all our employees and contractors go home safely, every day. Safety will continue to be a core value for Qatargas, as we move ahead in our journey towards becoming the world’s premier LNG company.” Also speaking on the occasion, Haouari said: “At all levels of the offshore operations, we reiterate the message that we are each responsible for our own safety and those around us. Our commitment to the ‘Incident & Injury Free’ initiative launched in 2002 continues to be the driving force behind all of our safety achievements. We have several programmes in place that support this goal. Risk assessments, permit to work system, job safety analysis and various other systems and procedures have contributed to this achievement.

However, the most important factor is the personal commitment of every member of the team towards safety and the Qatargas offshore team has consistently demonstrated this commitment.” The Qatargas offshore facilities are located approximately 80 kilometers northeast of Qatar’s mainland. A total of 85 wells together supply approximately 7.5 billion standard cubic feet of gas to the seven LNG production trains onshore.

The gas, along with the associated condensate is transferred to shore via subsea pipelines. The North Field Bravo offshore complex, which was commissioned in 1996, is the heart of Qatargas’ offshore operations.