Oryx GTL has started talks to build a second GTL plant in Qatar, which would raise its output to 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2008, a company official said.

Oryx is a gas-to-liquids joint venture of state-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) and South Africa’s Sasol.
“We are holding discussions with Qatar Petroleum to bring new projects online as early as 2008/2009,” Chris Turner, general manager of Oryx GTL said.
Turner said output would surge in coming years as capital costs of capacity dropped.
“Raising output to 230,000 bpd is a big jump in production, but it is very much achievable,” he added. Oryx I, which is currently under construction, will have an output of 34,000 bpd with a planned 65,000 bpd boost in production within two years that would bring total output to 99,000 bpd.
That expansion and addi-tional projects would involve QP and a Sasol-Chevron partnership.
“Although discussions are going on, our key focus is to get Oryx I online and successful and then look at these valued added ventures,” Turner said.
Oryx I, which will be ready in December 2005 with production starting in the first quarter of 2006, is on schedule and within its construction budget of $1 billion, Turner added.