Production gathering station in Greater Saqr Area contributes 30k boepd

MUSCAT: As part of Petroleum Development Oman's (PDO) efforts to enhance the oil production for the Sultanate of Oman through sustainable methods, the company awarded the Production Gathering Station in the Greater Saqr Area in the Wilayat of Shalim and the Hallaniyat Islands to Enerflex in August 2021.

PDO will celebrate the opening of the station next Wednesday at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) under the auspices of Sultan bin Salem Al Habsi, Minister of Finance.

Eng Ali bin Mohammed Al Wardi, Director of Strategic Projects (South) at Petroleum Development Oman, said that the project, which is located near the Amal oil field in the Wilayat of Shalim and the Hallaniyat Islands, aims to enhance the extraction of oil from six fields, namely Saqr, Northeast Saqr, North Saqr, Masbah, Rakd, and South Rakd, using a unified development methodology and utilising water-flooding techniques.

He added, in a statement to Oman News Agency (ONA), that the total cost of the project, both capital and operational, is RO 77 million and it consists of two main sections. The first section includes the construction of the production gathering station itself (which includes the construction of the enhanced flotation tank along with oil export pumps, high-pressure pumps for injecting the accompanying water, a clean energy production unit from recycling the associated gas instead of burning it, and the construction of all necessary facilities such as control room, substation, and transformers).

The second section involves works in the fields of the Greater Saqr Area, which extend over an area of 112 square kilometres (such as the main oil delivery pipelines, a gas pipeline with a length of 23 km, and water injection pipelines).

The project took 30 months to implement, and the station was operational on February 22, 2023. He clarified that the production capacity of the station is approximately 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Regarding the project's contribution to the local value added, Al Wardi said that Omani manpower in the project's operations represents more than 80 per cent so far, distributed across various administrative levels.

He noted that spending on small and medium-sized enterprises in providing goods and services amounted to more than RO 2.265 million, while spending on registered suppliers in Oman exceeded RO 11.57 million.

He confirmed that the project aligns with the strategic direction of PDO in terms of focusing on achieving the target of oil production growth in a sustainable manner, as well as plans to reduce the company's emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 (which is one of the national objectives).

It is estimated that this project will contribute to reducing approximately 6,600 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.

Al Wardi said that the project follows a policy of not routine flaring of gas associated with production, in line with the company's commitment to the World Bank's 2030 initiative to stop routine flaring; as the station is equipped with units for gas extraction and reuse in operational activities, and the remaining gas is sent to a gas-fired generator to generate electricity consumed in the project. — ONA

Source: Oman Observer