PGS Production to operate Syntroleum GTL plant

Aberdeen-based operations management company, PGS Production Services, a division of the PGS Group, revealed that its joint venture in Australia with Clough Engineering Ltd has been awarded a 13-year agreement to operate and provide maintenance services for the Sweetwater gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant, which is currently under development in Australia, by its US owner Syntroleum Ltd. The value of the work is approximately UK£150 million.

The joint venture, between PGS Production Services and Clough Engineering Ltd., an Australian engineering design, construction, operations, and maintenance service company, will provide complete operating services for the 10,000-b/d gas-to-liquids plant which will be located on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia.

Commenting on the award Jim Atack, Managing Director of PGS Production Services, said, "We believe that gas-to-liquids holds great promise for the future, both for specialty products such as those that will be made by Sweetwater, and ultra-clean fuels that are increasingly required today in many markets."

The Syntroleum Process is a process for converting natural gas into synthetic oil which can then be further processed into fuels and other hydrocarbon-based products. In the first step, natural gas is reacted with air in a proprietary auto-thermal-reformer reactor to produce a nitrogen-diluted synthesis gas, consisting primarily of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. In a reaction based on Fischer-Tropsch chemistry, the synthesis gas flows into a reactor containing a proprietary catalyst developed by Syntroleum, converting it into synthetic hydrocarbons commonly referred to as "synthetic crude oil." Courtesy: Syntroleum Corp.

PGS-Clough will provide complete operating services for the first commercial GTL plant, from the natural gas feedstock inlet through to the export wharf where the finished products will be shipped to market. Staffing will begin immediately to assist the project execution and to prepare for construction which begins later this year. During the construction phase of the project, PGS-Clough will provide operations planning services to Syntroleum, working with the engineering contractor to develop operating manuals, training programs and comprehensive maintenance programs. PGS-Clough will provide staffing for the full operation and maintenance of the plant when it comes on stream.

"We are pleased to have world class organizations such as PGS and Clough working with us on Sweetwater," stated Mark Agee, Syntroleum President and Chief Operating Officer. "They bring many years of experience and we expect them to make significant contributions to the project execution and to on-going operations."

The Sweetwater project gas-to-liquids plant development will employ the Syntroleum process to convert natural gas into ultra-clean, high-performance and sulfur-free synthetic specialty products such as lubricants, industrial fluids, and paraffins, as well as synthetic transportation fuels. Syntroleum has signed a 20-year gas supply contract for the plant with North West Shelf Venture Partners.

Syntroleum Corporation, in partnership with others, plans to build GTL plants using its technology in a number of global locations. Additionally, it licenses its process to oil companies for the manufacture of fuels. Current licensees include ARCO (now BP), Enron, Ivanhoe Energy, Kerr-McGee, Marathon, Repsol-YPF, Texaco, and the Commonwealth of Australia.

Source: PGS Production Services