Huge energy investment in a land of major projects

The Pearl gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility at Ras Laffan, Qatar, will be the biggest plant of its kind in the world when it comes on stream later this year. It will also be the biggest energy development ever undertaken in Qatar, a Gulf state with no small reputation as a land of huge projects. From a peak gas supply of 1.6 billion cubic feet per day, Pearl will produce as much as 140,000 barrels per day of synthetic oil products, similar to but containing fewer polluting contaminants than petroleum products refined from crude oil.