Escravos GTL is a
gas to liquids
Gas to liquids (GTL) is a oil refinery, refinery process to convert natural gas or other gaseous hydrocarbons into longer-chain hydrocarbons, such as gasoline or diesel fuel. Methane-rich gases are converted into liquid synthetic fuels. Two general ...
(GTL) project based in Escravos region,
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
. It is located in the Niger Delta about southeast of
Lagos
Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
. The plant converts
natural gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
into liquid
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...
products.
History
A pre-feasibility study of Escravos GTL was conducted in April 1998, followed by an engineering feasibility study. The
Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) was completed in 2002.
[ At the same year, agreements between ]Sasol
Sasol Limited, commonly referred to as Sasol, is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa.
The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa, and built around coal liquefaction processes that German ...
, Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened t ...
and Nigerian National Petroleum Company
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is a state-owned oil company in Nigeria. Still a fully-owned government company, it was transformed from a corporation into a limited liability company in July 2022. NNPC Limited is the on ...
were signed.[
] The construction contract was awarded in April 2005 to a consortium of JGC, KBR and Snamprogetti
Saipem S.p.A. (Società Azionaria Italiana Perforazioni E Montaggi lit. ''Drilling and Assembly Italian Public Limited Company'') is an Italian multinational oilfield services company and one of the largest in the world. Until 2016 it was a sub ...
.[
][
]
Description
The GTL plant cost US$10 billion and started up in summer 2014; its original cost started out at US$1.9 billion in 2005, rising to US$5.9 billion in 2009 but continued to escalate.[
] It has an initial capacity of of synfuel
Synthetic fuel or synfuel is a liquid fuel, or sometimes gaseous fuel, obtained from syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, in which the syngas was derived from gasification of solid feedstocks such as coal or biomass or by reformin ...
. The plant uses the Fischer–Tropsch process
The Fischer–Tropsch process (FT) is a collection of chemical reactions that converts a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, known as syngas, into liquid hydrocarbons. These reactions occur in the presence of metal catalysts, typically at te ...
technology and Chevron's ISOCRACKING technology.
Partners
The project was developed by Chevron Nigeria, Chevron Nigeria Limited (75%) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (15%).[ Sasol gained interest in the project early on, acquiring half of Chevron Nigeria's stake; however, due to increased cost and delays, Sasol reduced its stake to 10% in late 2008.][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Escravos Gtl
Natural gas plants
Petroleum production
Energy infrastructure in Nigeria
Petroleum industry in Nigeria
Natural gas in Nigeria
Chevron Corporation
Synthetic fuel facilities