Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) will start up the first phase of its $18 billion Pearl gas-to-liquids, or GTL, project in Qatar in the first quarter next year, with both production facilities fully operational in the first half of 2012, a company executive said Monday.

"We'll finish the construction process for phase 1 by the end of the year and then we'll start up the first train," Qatar Shell Commercial Manager Krey Stirland said on the sidelines of an energy conference in the Qatari capital, Doha .

When fully operational the GTL plant will produce around 140,000 barrels a day of gas-to-liquid products like naphtha, kerosene and paraffin.

The first train, or production facility, will be fully operational by late 2011, while the second phase will be working to full capacity in the first quarter of 2012, Stirland said.

"As soon as we start bringing the gas from offshore the plant is live," Stirland said. In total, the GTL project will produce 260,000 barrels a day of products, including 120,000 barrels a day of condensate. Products like kerosene can be sold to the aviation industry as jet fuel.

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