Shell International
gas Ltd (Shell) and the
Egyptian General Petroleum
Corporation (EGPC) have signed, with the approval of Egypt’s Petroleum
Minister, a Development Protocol for a 75,000 b/d Gas to Liquid (GtL)
conversion plant using Shell’s Middle Distillate
synthesis (SMDS) process
and at least one LNG train, to convert Egypt’s
gas/order_t/'>natural gas to
environmentally friendly
fuels/order_t/'>synthetic fuels.
The project would be developed by a joint venture between Shell and
EGPC. The plant could be put into commercial operation by mid 2004 for
the LNG and late 2005 for SMDS. LNG exports will be targeted at Southern
Mediterranean countries.
The proposed project consists of a combined site for LNG & SMDS.
Significant cost benefit could be achieved by combining these two
developments into one site. Presently, West Demiatta on the
Mediterranean coast, is the proposed
location.
Shell already has extensive operational experience with SMDS. It currently
operates a 12,000 b/d facility in Bintulu,
Malaysia and is the only
commercial scale GtL conversion plant of its type in existence around the
world.
GtL produces oil products which will help satisfy the growing local demand
of oil products/
fuels.
Egypt currently imports oil products but Shell believes
Egypt’s increasing gas reserves can satisfy the local market for these
products for more than 50 years. GtL offers the possibility of utilizing this
abundant natural resource to meet the urgent needs of the country and
contribute to sustainable development in Egypt. This would create an
important source of hard currency generation and would contribute to the
wealth of the country.
The total direct investment in the process plant would be in the order of
$1.7 billion dollars. It is expected that the project will employ some 500 to
600 people, most of them to be recruited and trained locally. During
construction, an average of local 5000 workers would be required.