Step on the gas

摘要

If you follow the road north out of Dawhah, about half an hour's drive across the desert will bring you to Ras Laffan industrial city. In 1990 there was nothing to see here, only a sunburnt and dusty promontory that jutted into the sea on Qatar's eastern shore. Within 10 years industry sprouted across more than 100m~2 of this desolate place. The reason: gas — more gas in a single place than anywhere else in the world. Ras Laffan is located strategically at the centre of the Arabian Gulf on Qatar's vast northern gas field. It holds nine per cent of the world's proven gas resources. This is where Qatar has embarked on the execution of its Strategic Plan for Natural Gas Utilisation, and the city accommodates a range of gas-based industries including liquefaction, processing and export, petrochemicals, refining of condensates and the construction of the world's largest port exporting LNG to serve these activities.