Pearl GTL

Pearl GTL (Gas-to-Liquids) was a large-scale gas-to-liquids plant located in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. It converted natural gas into liquid hydrocarbons, including naphtha, gasoil, kerosene, and base oils. It was a joint venture between QatarEnergy (formerly Qatar Petroleum) and Shell.

The Pearl GTL plant used Shell's proprietary GTL technology, which involved a three-stage process: converting natural gas into syngas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen), then using the Fischer-Tropsch process to convert syngas into long-chain hydrocarbons, and finally hydrocracking and distilling these hydrocarbons into the desired liquid products.

At its peak, Pearl GTL was one of the world's largest GTL plants, capable of producing around 140,000 barrels per day of GTL products and 120,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids and ethane. The plant started production in 2011.

In 2023, Shell announced its intention to exit the Pearl GTL joint venture, transferring its ownership stake to QatarEnergy.