Qatar: RasGas Backs Two Texas A&M Research Projects

At an official ceremony in Education City Wednesday, RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) signed an agreement with Texas A&M University at Qatar for the funding of two new innovative research projects entitled “3D Visualisation” and “Detection of Water in Gas Flow Lines”.

The signing, which took place in the presence of senior management from RasGas and Texas A&M at Qatar as well as number of faculty and students, comes as a result of continuous cooperation between the university and RasGas. It reflects RasGas’ commitment to fund and support research projects with the aim to explore and create cutting-edge technology to improve the overall efficiency of the oil and gas industry.

RasGas’ Technical Group Manager, Ron Gilliland, who signed the agreement on behalf of RasGas’ Managing Director said: “The signing of these two new agreements are tangible examples of RasGas’ commitment to share technological and scientific knowledge and to support the education and knowledge-base of Qatari students.” He added: “Like the other projects that we have supported, these two new initiatives add value to all involved, particularly the young Qatari students and RasGas engineers by providing them with opportunities to pursue higher education and enhance their business knowledge and skills.”

The 3D Visualisation technology offers a new and highly effective way to visualise and communicate complex issues related to oil and gas fields, enhancing the fields’ potential and providing an easy to use, interactive resource for engineers and geoscientists alike.

The Water Detection technology will be retrofitted onto RasGas’ existing installations and is designed to push the boundaries of current water detection technologies.

Texas A&M at Qatar’s Dr. Kenneth Hall, associate dean, Research and Graduate Studies, and associate director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station signed the agreement with RasGas and said:” The research project we inaugurate today is the fourth commissioned at Texas A&M at Qatar by RasGas, one of the University’s strongest and most enthusiastic research partners. Over the next two years, researchers in the Texas A&M at Qatar Petroleum Engineering Program will investigate accurate, nonintrusive processes that will allow RasGas engineers and technicians to detect and mitigate the presence of water in natural gas pipelines, a threat to stable and efficient production. Our work with RasGas spans a range of engineering disciplines and specialties, and represents the University’s commitment to being a valued resource for Qatar’s industrial and commercial sectors. Through research such as this project with RasGas and the expertise of our faculty and research teams, Texas A&M at Qatar contributes to the State’s rapid growth and economic expansion.”

The ceremony, which concluded with a tour of the university’s research facilities, allowed RasGas management to gain further insight into the progress and the challenges of two collaborative projects already underway through presentations by Texas A&M at Qatar professors and students involved in the research.

RasGas’ support of the research projects at the engineering university is part of the company’s commitment, under its Corporate Social Responsibility programme (CSR), to support the education needs of Qatar in line with Qatar’s National Vision 2030.

RasGas’ support of Texas A&M at Qatar students extends to numerous scholarships and internship programmes, offering high achievers the opportunity to further their educations and career prospects with their support and provision of hands-on work experience.

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Source: RasGas, May 19, 2011;