Qatar Shell Research and Technology Centre

Wherever Shell operates in the world, we aim to achieve a competitive advantage for ourselves and our partners. We do this through innovation and the deployment of cutting-edge technologies for the energy sector.

We are proud of the central role that Qatar plays in Shell’s overall group technology strategy through our world-class research and development program based at Qatar Shell Research and Technology Centre (QSRTC), which also acts as a learning centre.

QSRTC is a proud member of Shell’s wider R&D community, which includes technology centres in cities such as Amsterdam and Houston.

Moreover, QSRTC has an active programme of collaboration with the academic community in Qatar and abroad.

QSRTC’s mandate has always been to provide a home for research that adds value both to the State of Qatar, and to Shell and our partners. Therefore, we ensure that our work at QSRTC focuses on the development and deployment of technology that supports the Qatar National Research Strategy. In this, our goal is to continuously and energetically support the Qatar National Vision 2030’s ambition to foster a knowledge-based economy in Qatar.

Welcome to QSRTC

Shell is proud that QSRTC is the anchor tenant at Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), a home for technology based companies from around the world.

We opened our doors in 2008 with a $100 million decade-long funding commitment. Our programme of dynamic collaborations with both the local and international academic community at QSRTC enables Shell to remain steadfast in its support of the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the Qatar National Research Strategy (QNRS).

The work at QSRTC is focused on the development and implementation of technologies that support Qatar’s specific needs, as well as supporting Qatar’s role as the world’s largest Liquefied Natural Gas exporter and the Gas to Liquids (GTL) capital of the world.

We work with many of Qatar’s universities and academic institutions and provide training in R&D to Qatari national staff as part of Shell’s support for Qatar’s journey towards a knowledge-based economy.

Breakthrough products

Globally, Shell provides transport fuel to around 10 million customers each day through our 44,000 service stations worldwide. Our products and services are also designed to meet the needs of businesses - from the construction industry to aviation, chemicals to shipping. Through technology and innovation we are working to deliver cleaner burning and more efficient fuels, as well as new ways of using hydrocarbons and producing energy.

Here in Qatar, Pearl GTL produces a host of premium, cleaner burning hydrocarbon products from gas, which are sold into specialist markets all across the world. Pearl GTL produces new products such as GTL jet fuel, recently introduced for commercial use by Qatar Airways flying from Doha International Airport.

This product, the first new aviation fuel to be licensed for use in the industry for more than two decades, was the result of a long-term multi-stakeholder research partnership by Qatar Science and Technology Park, involving global industry leaders such as Qatar Airways, Airbus, Qatar Petroleum, Rolls-Royce plc, Woqod, Texas A&M University and QSRTC. It was the first such multinational, global study on GTLs and has delivered a global legacy for Qatar, propelling the research from the laboratory to the engine – with tangible worldwide benefits for local air quality.

Unlocking the subsurface

The world will need a mix of energy resources to meet growing global demand. We are using advanced technologies to help unlock new resources of oil and gas responsibly, and to boost production from existing fields.

Qatar’s subsurface holds tremendous potential for oil, gas and water reserves. Developing and deploying innovative technologies to support Qatar unlock these resources is a major focus area for our research at QSRTC, with two major R&D programmes ongoing.

In partnership with seismic experts, PGS, Shell has developed a battery-less fibre-optic seismic technology. Making use of cutting-edge fibre optic and laser technology, the system is designed to provide a safer, more cost effective method to deliver more accurate and higher quality seismic data for exploration and permanent production monitoring. After three years of collaborative research with PGS, Shell successfully completed the pilot-testing of the new seismic system in the North of Qatar.

The collected data has been analysed at QSRTC using state-of-the- art data processing, imaging and visualisation techniques, with very encouraging results.

QSRTC is also helping to better understand Qatar’s subsurface through a flagship research partnership investigating the injection of CO2 into carbonate reservoirs. Since 2008 Shell and Qatar Petroleum have been working a $70 million, 10-year research collaboration in conjunction with the UK’s Imperial College and Qatar Science and Technology Park.

This fundamental research is important to understand the potential for sequestration or improved hydrocarbon recovery, but also delivers insights into many other aspects of carbonate hydrocarbon systems both in Qatar and around the world.

Qatari doctorate researchers are already working on this laboratory-based project at Imperial College London and, starting in 2013, an increasing proportion of the consortium’s research will be conducted in Qatar, at QSRTC and QP’s Research and Technology Centre.

Water Solutions

Sustainable use of water has been identified as one of the key challenges for Qatar as a nation. In collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Qatar Shell Research & Technology Centre (QSRTC) is carrying out studies on the Ministry’s farm to better understand the potential for recycling and re-using water produced in Qatar’s various industrial processes to sustain plant growth. The programme has been ongoing for several years and is investigating the growth of turf and trees for use in creating green spaces.

Other R&D initiatives support our work on sustainable water use and reuse, including various pilot and bench scale units at the QSRTC testing facility. It is staffed by leading water research scientists and a Professorial Chair for Sustainable Development at Qatar University, funded by Qatar Shell. The post is currently held by Dr M. Ajmal Khan, one of the world’s foremost experts on plant growth using brackish water.

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