Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) may export U.S. natural gas in liquid form, convert it into chemicals or build a gas-to-liquids plant to produce fuel, said the company’s country chairman for Dubai and the northern emirates.
Shell is considering the possibilities, and “it is too soon to say which of these options will go ahead or the precise timings,” Mounir Bouaziz said in an e-mail.
Shell as well as other international oil companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp and BP Plc (BP/) seek to profit from US gas reserves, which rose 70 percent in the 10 years ended 2011 amid a surge in output from shale. A rise in domestic production contributed to a 64 percent drop in prices in the past five years.
Shell and Kinder Morgan Inc. announced their intention to form a company to export liquefied natural gas from a site in Georgia, joining more than 20 other companies seeking to export the fuel. A US-based gas-to-liquids plant may convert the fuel into jet fuel, diesel and naphtha. Shell built and operates the world’s biggest GTL plant in Qatar.
Shell is currently exploring for oil and gas in Turkey through four ventures, including one to explore deep water off the Black Sea coast, Bouaziz said. The company is also involved in projects to extract oil from shale rock in Turkey, he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Tuttle in Doha at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at [email protected]
