First Gas-To-Liquid Product Shipment Reaches America

Shell Lubricants announced on November 23 the arrival of its first shipment of gas-to-liquid (GTL) base oil at the Port of Houston. The product, the first from the Qatar-based Pearl GTL plant to reach the Americas, will be stored at a hub in Houston and routed to GTL-enabled blending facilities throughout the United States.

The manufacturer will use the material, a high-quality Group III base oil, in the making of its premium motor oils. "The arrival of the first shipment of GTL to the Americas is an extremely exciting event for Shell Lubricants and our customers," said Lisa Davis, President, Shell Commercial Fuels and Lubricants, Americas.

Pearl GTL, a partnership between Royal Dutch Shell ("Shell") and Qatar Petroleum, has built the world's largest gas-to-liquids plant in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. The plant uses natural gas from Qatar's North Field to manufacture base oils and other GTL products. Once the plant is operating at full capacity, it will be one of the world's largest sources of lubricant base oils with the capacity to produce about 30,000 barrels per day, enough to fill 225 million cars per year. Shell will be the only oil major capable of meeting all of its Group III base oil needs from internal sources.

Compared to typical base oils, which are refined from crude oil, GTL base oils represent an alternative starting point for the manufacture of finished lubricants. Within the range of commercially available base oils, Group III oils have high viscosity index, low volatility, and good low-temperature fluidity and are often used to make synthetic motor oils. Shell GTL base oil usage will be an essentially invisible change within their existing formulations, although in some cases lubricants using this base oil may appear lighter in color.

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