RasGas Company – Environment & Society

Environmental Commitment

As a pacesetting company, RasGas is proactive in environmental issues, seeing its responsibility for the preservation and development of the environment as a core commitment.

The Environment

RasGas has implemented a comprehensive and integrated management system to control the safety, health and environmental risks inherent in RasGas’ business. Known as RasGas Elements for Excellence (RGEE), it provides a framework of policies, procedures and continuous improvement processes that enables RasGas to maximise the safety and welfare of people, property and the environment.

As a pacesetting company, RasGas is proactive in environmental issues, seeing its responsibility for the preservation and development of the environment as a core commitment. It works with the State of Qatar and institutions such as the Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural Reserves (SCENR) and the University of Qatar on a range of innovative programmes, some directly concerned with the LNG industry and others more broadly affecting the natural environment of Qatar, such as air quality, waste recycling environmental awareness projects.

During 2004, for example, RasGas was one of the first Qatari companies to embark on the development of vapour recovery systems on all its liquid loading berths, designed to significantly reduce vented and flared emissions. RasGas has also implemented acid gas injection on three production trains, which will considerably reduce sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions.

The Al Khaleej Gas project (AKG) will also bring environmental benefits to Qatar by replacing some of the oil currently used in electricity generation and other applications. To minimise the environmental impact of the project itself, the major waste streams from processing AKG gas (acid gas and produced water) are both reinjected into subsurface reservoirs.

Meanwhile RasGas has taken a lead role in setting up Ras Laffan Industrial City’s (RLIC) Waste Management Facility and, together with RLIC and Qatargas, it has established the Ras Laffan Environmental Association (RLEA). RasGas also initiated ozone modelling for RLIC and the Qatar Airshed Management Association (QAMA).

RasGas implements best practice industry processes throughout its internal operations. In January 2006, for example, its environmental laboratory became the first in the State of Qatar to receive ISO (International Standards Organization) 17025 accreditation. The following month RasGas announced that its RGEE Management System had been recertified to ISO 9001:2000, OHSAS 18001:1999 and upgraded to ISO 14001:2004 standards. Achieving these recertifications was an important milestone and was consistent with RasGas’ commitment to continuous improvement.

Safeguarding the natural world

The coastline of Qatar is another focus of the company’s environmental efforts. Since a significant proportion of the country’s energy deposits lie in the shallow waters near the coastline, and development of these offshore reserves is the foundation for the State’s economic future, RasGas has formed an alliance with the University of Qatar to develop special conservation measures to ensure that all coastal disturbances are temporary and minimal in nature. Projects include developing an artificial reef structure for Qatar’s north-east coast, which has allowed the continued breeding success of the hawksbill turtle on the beaches near Ras Laffan, and supporting the Al Dhakhira Park project, which will be filled with indigenous flora and fauna, including some threatened species.

This piece is taken from the website of RasGas Company.

See on-line at: http://www.rasgas.com/l_2.cfm?L2_id=2