US-based helium supplier BOC has signed a long-term supply agreement under which it will purchase 50 percent of the output from a new helium purification and liquefaction facility to be constructed in the Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar.
BOC has agreed to purchase helium from the Ras Laffan Helium Project, a joint undertaking of Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company II and Qatar Liquefied Natural Gas Company.
The helium will be produced at a natural gas processing facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar, which also produces liquefied natural gas and other hydrocarbon products from Qatar's huge North Field.
Helium supplied under this agreement will boost BOC's global helium capacity by approximately 15 percent, and will be shipped to customers in the Middle East and Asia. Helium deliveries under this contract are expected to commence in July 2005.
According to director of helium sourcing and supply for BOC Bob Lein, "The supply agreement with the Ras Laffan Helium Project will provide BOC additional capacity required to meet the continued growth in helium demand that we anticipate and will help to relieve the current tight supply conditions. "
BOC supplies helium through a global distribution network that also includes six contracted sources of supply and 47 local transfill facilities. Twenty of these transfills are located in the Middle East and Asia.
BOC supplies helium to diverse markets including magnetic resonance imaging, optical fiber production, welding and semiconductor manufacturing. The BOC Group serves two million customers in more than 50 countries. It employs 46,000 people and had annual sales of some six billion dollars in 2002. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
