Grace & Co and Al Dahra have signed a joined venture to build and operate in Abu Dhabi, UAE,  a new plant to produce Catalysts and Additives

With this new facility, Grace & Co and Al Dahra are targeting to supply some of the 16 Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) units  to come in the next five years in the Gulf.

This plant should be the first one of that kind in the region. With an estimated market to grow by $150 million for Catalysts and Additives products, Grace & Co and Al Dahra see here the great opportunity to make the Gulf self sufficient and to export in South Asia.

The completion is due in 2015.

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

Abu Dhabi’s Zakum Development Company’s (ZADCO) mandate was to develop the Upper Zakum field on behalf of ADNOC and for the benefit of the shareholders: ADNOC 60%, ExxonMobil 28% through its local subsidiary ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Ltd. (EMAD), and Japan Oil Development Company Ltd. (Jodco) holding the remaining 12%. ExxonMobil, ADNOC and Jodco will jointly provide support to the operating company.

Upper Zakum, in UAE, is the largest part of a reservoir that is now classed as the second-largest field in the Gulf and the fourth-largest in the world.

The upgrading of Upper Zakum is a strategic investment for ADNOC to fulfil its long-held target to increase Abu Dhabi‘s production capacity from 2.8 million bpd to 3.5 million b/d and to maintain the emirate’s position as OPEC‘s fourth largest producer. Since 2009, ADNOC  subsidiaries have started to award contracts to raise capacity at existing developments, and to tap undeveloped fields.

The award of the first Upper Zakum project was originally due to be made at the end of last year, but was delayed because companies had to resubmit their technical bids to accommodate changing technical specifications.

ZADCO is working hard on the enormous expansion of drilling and production to achieve its goal to produce 750,000 b/d of crude oil by 2015, from the current 500,000 b/d.

The upgrade of Upper Zakum capacity will be developed in three phases. The first phase will boost production capacity by 100,000 b/d, and a further 150,000 b/d will be added in the second phase. A final phase will ensure that production can be maintained over a 25-year period

In order to achieve the huge ramp up, ZADCO is shifting from traditional offshore platform production to a network of artificial islands which are already being built. A greater production is anticipated with drilling reach will be extended from 10,000 feet to around 30,000 feet from the new islands.

According to ZADCO two pilot wells have already been successfully drilled.

Last August, one of the first UZ750 project landmarks emerged from the waves in the southern part of the Upper Zakum field. The appearance of sand above the high water level marked a milestone in the history of the company in the transition from wellhead platform tower based facilities and jack-up drilling rigs  to island based facilities and land rig based drilling.

ExxonMobil will provide his support by developing technologies that will maximize recovery from Upper Zakum reservoirs. The company plans to establish a technology center in Abu Dhabi that will supply technology in the areas of reservoir management, well management, and production operations. Additional support for training and personnel development will come from ExxonMobil’s Upstream Training and Technology Center in Houston, USA.

ExxonMobil has also agreed to help establish a research and development facility at the Petroleum Institute, the leading technical university in Abu Dhabi.

Among the bidders McDermott and Saipem, Technip in JV with National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) submitted the lowest offer at $800 million who is now in clarification process.

In the scheme of the projects based on four islands for production and drilling, one will be used for power generation to supply the other islands. This offshore electrical network, for transportation and distribution, will represent more that 10% of the project capital expenditure.

The completion is planned by the end of 2015.

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

The Mubadala Development Company, through its branch Mubadala Oil& Gas and the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) from Abu Dhabi, have announced the project to build the Emirates LNG Terminal in Fujairah, UAE.

This LNG Terminal would have a down loading and re-gasification capacity of 1.2 billion cf/d and a storage capacity of 12 billion cf gas.

It would be built in two phases, each having a capacity of 600 million standard cubic feet per day.

The first phase will include a floating storage and regasification terminal.  The completion is planned in 2014

The second phase would add an onshore import terminal to be built a year later.

The UAE have the seventh largest gas reserves in the World but are chronically in deficit of gas because of the increasing needs for utilities, gas injection and petrochemical industry.

In addition the UAE faces uncertainties regarding their gas supply from different sides. The expected production and costs to come from on going gas fields development projects as Shah gas, Dolphin pipeline does not deliver expected quantities because of commercial issues and the Strait of Hormuz may be closed at any time.

In this context, the choice of Fujairah is perfect to attract investors and traders.

Sinopec, Vitol Group, and the Dutch Royal Vopak NV are considering to use Fujairah also for oil storage. Actual evaluations are to add about 1 million cm storage capacity per company. 

The completion is targeted in 2014.

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

Adma-Opco to spend $50 million to reduce carbon footprint.

Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (Adma-Opco)  is majority-owned by Abu Dhabi‘s state oil firm ADNOC with BP, Total, Inpex and Japan Oil Development Company as other share holders.

Adma-Opco is the operator of the Das Island offshore oil and gas hub.

In order to reduce the carbon footprint of the site, Adma-Opco is planning to install a flare gas recovery unit to capture the hydrocarbons gas emissions and prevent them from release in the atmosphere.

Adma-Opco estimated the capital expenditure to $50 million.

Tebodin from the Netherlands performed the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED)

Penspen from UK has been appointed as Project Manger Consultant (PMC)

Then the technical bids for the EPC contract were submitted by:

 - Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) from Greece

 - Technip from Abu Dhabi office

 - Adyard from Abu Dhabi.

The commercial bids should follow in June for an award on third quarter 2012.

Adma-Opco is planning the completion of the Das Island flare gas recovery in 2014.

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

Fujairah refinery, a strategic project for the UAE

International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) is moving ahead with the crude oil refinery project to be located at Fujairah, UAE.

The Fujairah refinery, should have a capacity of 10.0 million t/y or 200,000 b/d.

IPIC estimated the capital expenditure at $ 3 billion.

The Fujairah refinery project should be developed in two phases:

 - First phase: construction of the Refinery to be completed by 2017

 - Second phase: development of the petrochemical complex including a 1.2 million t/y polypropylene plant.

The Fujairah Refinery project is a strategic initiative of the Government.

To be located near the new Abu Dhabi crude oil pipeline Main oil Terminal and the UAE deep water Export Terminals in Fujairah, the Refinery is a master piece of the Government strategy to shortcut the Strait of Hormuz.

The proposed Fujairah refinery would be near the outlet of a 1.5 million-barrel-a-day oil pipeline running to the coast and set to be completed in 2012.

The pipeline will give access for exports to the Gulf of Oman, allowing shipments to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, the transit point for tankers hauling oil from producers including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and Kuwait.

In addition to this geographical aspects to secure the export of crude oil from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries, IPIC intents to give the Fujairah refinery the capability to meet its own power generation requirements.

It means that the project will include power generation facilities.

The Government wants also to take this opportunity to provide power supply to the local grid of the Northern Emirates.

Through the capital expenditure in the refinery and all the associated infrastructures needed around for about the same amount, the IPIC’s Fujairah refinery will create significant opportunities in Northern Emirates. 

The refinery is expected to create more than 750 job opportunities out of which 375 to 400 wil be for UAE Nationals, once it comes into operation.

The refinery shall be designed to process UAE crude oil such as Murban, Upper Zakum and Dubai.

Shaw Group completes Feasibility Study

In April 2011, IPIC had awarded the Project Management Consultancy (PMC) contract and the pre-front end engineering and design (feasibility study) phase of the Fujairah Refinery to Shaw Stone & Webster.

The Shaw Group completed the project feasibility study, so that IPIC could proceed with the call for tender for the front end engineering and design (FEED) contract.

At least Fluor from USA and Technip from France are going to bid.

IPIC is targeting the Fujairah refinery project completion to occur by mid 2016.

With questions accumulating on the neighboring Iran and because of the five years lead time to turn a refinery from greenfield into operation, IPIC is driving up to speed the Fujairah refinery project with the support of engineering companies like Shaw, Fluor or Technip which have local capabilities to ensure the project completion on time. 

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

Petrofac-Schlumberger won 30 years Pemex contract

Schlumberger in brief

Houston, Texas-based Schlumberger Limited (Shlumberger) is the world’s leading oil field services company supplying technology, information solutions and integrated project management that optimize reservoir performance for customers working in the oil and gas industry.

Schlumberger has principal offices in Paris-France, Houston-Texas and The Hague-The Netherlands and reported revenues of $39.54 billion in 2011.

Schlumberger employ over 113,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 85 countries. 

With 25 research and engineering facilities worldwide, Schlumberger places strong emphasis on developing innovative technology that adds value for customers.

In 2011, Schlumberger invested $1.1 billion in R&D.

Petrofac in brief

The new alliance in integrated services contracts between Petrofac and Schlumberger not only demonstrates the complementary skill sets and proven execution capability to maximize the potential of these  maturing Panuco oil fields for PEMEX, but also the strong and longstanding commitment to take Market Leadership for future growth in margin and market share into Mexico. 

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

Electrical and Instrumentation experts to meet in Abu Dhabi on November 12th &13th 2012

PCIC stands for the Petroleum and Chemical Industry Committee.

PCIC Middle East is the regional representation of PCIC Europe to organize the premier Conference for the exchange of experience in electricity and instrumentation in the oil and gas, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, covering all the aspects of the upstream and downstream activities.

The PCIC Middle East and PCIC Europe conferences mobilize experts from:

 - End-users

 - Engineering and Services companies

 - Contractors

 - Manufacturers

 - Regulators

 - Insurance institutions

 - International standards organizations

The purpose of PCIC Middle East is for these recognized experts to present papers and to lead panels discussions to share their experience and good practises with the attendees.

PCIC Middle East Technical Committee

The subjects are selected for the conference by a Technical Committee because of their high value for the companies operating in the Middle East region in order to provide  immediate benefits to attendees.

 The Technical Committee is made of representatives from 2B1st Consulting, ABB, BP, Eaton, ExxonMobil, Hess, Sabic, Schneider Electric, Shell, Statoil, Technip, Total and ZVEI covering all the aspects of the oil and gas and petrochemical industry:

 - Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions & Sustainable development

 - Safety in the workplace & Qualification of the personal

 - Regulations and new standards

 - Electrical & Instrumentation Design and Engineering good practices

 - Equipment, Systems & Components

 - Operation, Maintenance, Repair & Asset Management

 - Extreme Conditions applications (Arctic, Hot, Deep Offshore, Subsea)

 - Instrumentation & Control System

 - IEC 61850 Experience & Feed back

Major Companies attendees feedback

All the major companies, IOCs and NOCs, of the oil and gas and petrochemical industry are represented with numerous attendees.

These companies do not hesitate to communicate their satisfaction from the fruitful learning sessions and friendly networking during the Conference.

Occidental of Oman

“The conference contains very useful material and topics which covered all the Electrical and Instrumentation fields“.                                                      

A. Al Sawafi, Occidental of Oman

Saudi Aramco

“This is far the best conference I ever attended. Most of the papers were very beneficial to my work. Unlike other conferences, all its papers are related to Industry“.

S. Al Majed, Saudi Aramco

Royal Dutch Shell

“The annual Oil & Gas Electrical Engineer “Must-Attend” event!“

W. De Wilt, Shell International

Total

“A mandatory event for Electrical Oil & Gas Engineers…the yearly snapshot of the Industry!”

E. Meyer, Total Exploration & Production

PCIC Middle East and PCIC Europe in brief

PCIC Europe organizes an annual conference in Europe to share expertise and good practices between the Electrical and Instrumentation Engineers working in the Oil and Gas and Petrochemical Industry.

Many engineers working in Middle-East would like to attend our PCIC Europe Conference but may meet difficulties doing so for multiple reasons.

Therefore PCIC Europe decided to take its expertise to them by creating the PCIC Middle East Conference.

The first PCIC Middle East Conference will be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE on November 12^th & 13^th 2012 in conjunction with the ADIPEC Exhibition. 

Several sponsors of PCIC Europe have already extended their sponsorship to PCIC Middle East in addition to local sponsors.

ADNOC is the official sponsor of ADIPEC.

PCIC Europe has signed a contract with ADIPEC to host our PCIC Middle East conference during their event.

The set up will be similar to PCIC Europe where Authors will present their papers and reply to questions through interactive sessions.

In joining ADIPEC one of the most successful event of the oil and gas and petrochemical industry in the GCC Countries, PCIC Middle East will be the must attend event for of the electrical and instrumentation specialists of the operating companies, engineering and services companies, contractors and local authorities.

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

OMV and Wintershall to appraise Shuwaihat sour gas and condensate field

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), signed a Technical Evaluation Agreement (TEA) with OMV Abu Dhabi E&P GmbH (OMV) and Wintershall Middle East GmbH – Abu Dhabi (Wintershall) to appraise the sulfur rich sour gas (H2S and CO2) and condensate field in Shuwaihat.

This Agreement is part of the strategy developed by Abu Dhabi to diversify its historically narrow pool of operators and stakeholders in the Emirate, mostly Shell, Total, ExxonMobil and few others.

On the last five years, we could see Abu Dhabi opening the doors to new participants and to award crude oil concessions and natural gas projects on a field-by-field basis, as for example to:

 - Occidental of a concession covering two onshore fields in 2008 (no ADNOC participation)

 - ConocoPhillips of the Shah sour gas contract in 2008, from which ConocoPhillips later withdrew and was replaced by Occidental in 2011 (ADNOC participation as 60% shareholder of the project)

 - Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) of a concession covering two onshore areas and one offshore area in January 2012 (ADNOC participation as 60% interestholder in the concession)

The award of Shuwaihat sour gas and condensate to OMV and Wintershall should be considered in that perspective.

Shuwaihat field would be an important development of a natural gas and condensate field in the Western region of Abu Dhabi.

The Shuwaihat field is located some 25 km to the West of Ruwais near Shuweihat Island in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi.

In the TEA agreement OMV and Wintershall will be equal partners while Wintershall will be the operator.

Wintershall and OMV has planning to drill up to three appraisal wells and acquiring 3D-seismic over the field.

In the case of a successful appraisal campaign, ADNOC will participate in the development and production phase of the Shuwaihat field.

Abu Dhabi IPIC holds 24,9% of OMV

Through its sovereign wealth investment found International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), Abu Dhabi is OMV‘s second largest shareholder.

IPIC has been OMV‘s shareholder since 1994.

Last October 2011, IPIC invested $410 million (€327 million) in capital expenditure to raise its share of OMV from 20.4% to 24.9%.

OMV and IPIC are co-owners of Borealis, an Austrian petrochemicals company.

To optimize the appraisal and future development of the Shuwaihat sour gas and condensate field, Wintershall and OMV will employ advanced technologies of the highest standards.

Both companies have a proven track record in Germany and Austria of more than forty years of safe development and production of sour gas (H2S and CO2) and crude oil fields.

A successful appraisal campaign will result in Shuwaihat being an important development of a sulfur-rich sour gas and condensate field contributing to cover the increasing hydrocarbon demand of the UAE and the country’s long-term export capability.

OMV has a long standing experience in the treatment of sour gas as it operates the Aderklaa sour gas treatment plant in Gänserndorf, Austria.

In this context a successful appraisal would provide Adu Dhabi with a double benefit.

First ADNOC could develop this challenging but rich Shuwaihat natural gas and condensate field.

Second IPIC would see in Shuwaihat a fruitful opportunity to leverage significantly the return of its capital expenditure in OMV. 

OMV in brief

OMV Aktiengesellschaft (OMV) is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies.

In 2011, OMV booked $42.5 billion sales with a workforce of 29,800 employees.

In exploration and production, OMV is active in two core countries Romania and Austria.

OMV had proven oil and gas reserves of approximately 1.13 billion barrel oil equivalent (boe) as of year-end 2011 and a production of around 288,000 boe/d in 2011.

In Refining and Marketing, OMV runs approximately 4,500 filling stations in 13 countries including Turkey.

In midstream, OMV operates a 2,000 km long natural gas pipeline network with a marketed capacity of around 101 billion cm in 2011.

OMV has opened an E&P office in Abu Dhabi in 2007.

This office serves for screening business opportunities and the coordination of existing activities in the Middle East region and to further strengthen the relationship with the United Arab Emirates.

The close co-operation with IPIC will support OMV‘s development in the region.

Wintershall in brief

Wintershall Middle East GmbH is a 100% affiliate of Wintershall Holding GmbH, based in Kassel, Germany.

Wintershall Holding GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF SE.

Wintershall has been active in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas for over 80 years.

Wintershall focuses on selected core regions, where the company has built up a high level of regional and technological expertise, such as Europe, North Africa, South America, as well as Russia and the Caspian Sea region.

In addition, these operations are complemented by growing exploration activities in the Arabian Gulf.

In 2010, Wintershall has opened an office in Abu Dhabi, the very first one of a German E+P company in the Emirate.

Wintershall’s involvement in the UAE already stretches back over several decades with activities in Dubai, Ras Al Khaima and Sharjah.

Now Wintershall wants to get more actively involved in long-term upstream projects in the Gulf Region.  

Today, Wintershall employs more than 2,000 staff worldwide from 40 nations and is now Germany’s largest crude oil and natural gas producer.

With the natural gas trading and transport subsidiaries it operates together with Russia’s Gazprom, the BASF’s subsidiary is also an important natural gas supplier on the European market.

ADNOC in brief

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is a National Oil Company (NOC) wholly owned by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

ADNOC was established in 1971 to operate in all areas of the oil and gas industry and is currently comprised of 15 specialist subsidiary and joint venture companies that encompass a comprehensive range of upstream and downstream activities.

Operating in the UAE and around the world, ADNOC produces over 2.7 million b/d of oil, with plans to increase production to over 3.5 million b/d over the next decade to help satisfy the ever-increasing global demand for oil and hydrocarbon products.

IPIC in brief

The International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), was formed by the Abu Dhabi government in 1984, and tasked with an ambitious mandate to invest capital expenditure in the energy and related sectors across the globe.

The implementation of this mandate has resulted in stakes in more than 15 leading companies across the hydrocarbon value chain, including exploration and production, shipping and pipelines, downstream retail and marketing, petrochemicals, power and utilities as well as industrial services for total assets valued at approximately $60 billion.

IPIC has adopted a flexible approach in terms of its preferred equity stake in investment companies.

The current portfolio comprises ownership interests ranging from 4% to wholly-owned, depending on factors such as size, synergistic potential and investment opportunity.

IPIC does not generally participate in the day to day management of the companies in which it holds a stake.

However, through active participation in their governing bodies, it helps set the strategic direction of its invested companies.

The synergy within IPIC‘s portfolio and the mutually beneficial relationships with business partners around the world are essential to the success and growth of the company.

Although the Shuwaihat sour gas and condensate field is among the most challenging wells in the region, ADNOC is mobilizing the required technology through OMV and Wintershall with a double profit for Abu Dhabi expected to be collected through IPIC.

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

Definition

 Concession is a form of contract in the oil and gas industry between a State and a company to explore and develop these resources.

Comments

Oil and gas concessions are very similar to mining concessions considering that in all countries, except USA, and few others the underground belongs to the State, not to the owner of the upper land.

In this general legal context, the State represented by its Government, or its legal Authority, grants the rights and obligations to an operating company to explore, develop and produce oil and gas resources as any mining company.

These concessions apply the same way for onshore or offshore development as long as located in the Continental Shelf of the State.

The area subjected to a concession is usually called a block with its own rights and obligations.

These concessions are long term agreements signed between the State of a producing country and the operating company, usually an International Oil Company (IOC), for at least 20 years.

Some concessions in Abu Dhabi with BP, ExxonMobil or Total may be 65 years old.

Again, as extrapolated from historical mining code in each country, the financial structure of an oil and gas concession is pretty simple as based on two phases, exploration and production.

The operating company, or a pool of them, shall buy a concession license for the exploration of a given block.

Then the operating company shall pay to the local State a fee per barrel produced in compensation of the production of oil and gas.

This concession fee will depend on the barrel price at the time of the signature of the concession, and also on the quantity and quality of the oil and gas produced such as estimated at the exploration phase.

Usually this concession fee per barrel, or per Barrel of Oil Equivalent (BOE), is fixed for the duration of the concession.

In practice it means that the State will receive this fee regardless of the capital expenditure, profits and losses of the operating company.

All the costs and risks are left to the operating company, but also all the profits exceeding the fee.

This last point created a lot of tensions between the producing countries and the operating companies when concessions were signed 15 to 20 years ago when the barrel price was fluctuating between $10 and $20 per barrel.

At that time the concession fees were a couple of USD per barrel, which then turned the concessions contracts totally unbalanced when the barrel prices started to rocket to $30, $50 and of course $100 per barrel.

So these last 10 years all the countries having such concession contracts investigated all the ways to renegotiate the compensation of the concession, either directly, either in introducing taxes.

Of course the operating companies were very reluctant to accept these changes, not just because it was reducing their growth margins, but also because they had no guaranty to revise these fees downward in the case the barrel price would come down again during the remaining period of the concession.

With the barrel price not only increasing significantly but more importantly fluctuating heavily depending on multiple factors including USD currency, the concession contract appeared less and less adapted to regulate the rights and obligations between States and International Oil Company (IOC) which now prefer to use production sharing contracts (PSC).

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

Larsen & Toubro wins Oman PDO Saih Rawl phase 2

>On August 27th 2012, Petroleum Development Oman LLC (PDO) awarded to Larsen & Toubro from India the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Saih Rawl Depletion Compression Phase 2 (SRDC2) project.

Nine engineering companies were in competition to win this order of $235 million.

The Saih Rawl gas field is located in Center Oman where PDO started operations in 1991 with a large gas Central Processing Facility (CPF).

Then the natural gas is piped to the LNG Trains located at Qahlat for export and Sur Fertilizer plant.

After years of production the Saih Rawl gas field is maturing and losing a part of its natural pressure.

PDO invested $550 million in the Saih Rawl Depletion Compression phase 1 (SRDC1) project to boost Saih Rawl gas field in using the depletion compression process.

The depletion compression is reducing the back-pressure at the wellhead to boost the gas inlet pressure from 35 to 96 bar for export.

Anyway and despite the installation and commissioning of the Saih Rawl Depletion Compression phase 1 last year, the natural depletion of the Saih Rawl gas field continues so that the inlet pressure at the CPF should come down to 13 bar by 2015.

In that perspective PDO anticipates with Saih Rawl Depletion Compression phase 2 project.

In its EPC contract Larson & Toubro‘s scope of work includes:

 - 4 parallel compression trains of 76 MW for a total capacity of 30 million standard cubic meter per day (mmscmd) of gas

 - Modifications of the condensate handling system at the Saih Rawl CPF

 - Installation of a pair of inlet separators for a total capacity of 18 mmscmd

PDO and Larsen & Toubro are planning the completion of the Saih Rawl Depletion Compression phase 2 project in 2014.

Larsen & Toubro aims at Qatar Dolphin gas compression

Larsen & Toubro is one of the six engineering companies in competition for the Dolphin Energy Ltd (Dolphin) gas compression expansion project in Ras Laffan Indusrial City in Qatar.

Created in 1999, Dolphin is a joint venture based in Abu Dabi, UAE, between:

 - Mubadala, a wholly owned Abu Dhabi Government national oil company (NOC), 51%

 - Total from France 24.5%

 - Occidental Petroleum from USA 24.5%

If the Abu Dhabi Emirate is rich of oil, it is short of natural gas.

With a local natural gas demand increasing for power generation, gas injection and petrochemicals applications, Abu Dhabi created Dolphin Energy to treat and export natural gas from Qatar to the UAE.

In the agreement between Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the raw natural gas is processed in Ras Laffan Industrial City to produce:

 - Natural gas (methane) exported to the UAE

 - Ethane used as feedstock locally for the Ras Laffan petrochemical industry

 - other NGL such as propane and butane for international trading.

In 2007, JGC from Japan built up the first Dolphin gas compression facility with capacities of:

 - 110,000 b/d of condensate

 - 4,400 t/d of ethane

 - 2,800 t/d of propane

 - 1,800 t/d of butane

Now Dolphin is planning the expansion of the existing Ras Laffan gas central processing facility (CPF).

The expansion of Dolphin Ras Laffan gas CPF is supposed to include:

 - Gas compression facility of 1 billion cf/d additional capacity of natural gas

 - Upgrade Ras Laffan Dolphin utilities

 - Piping and hydraulic work

This expansion is to match with the available capacity of the 364 kilometer gas pipeline connecting Qatar to the UAE across the Arabian Gulf.

Designed and installed by Saipem in 2006 for a capacity of 3.2 billion cf/d of natural gas, the Dolphin gas pipeline is currently operated at 2 billion cf/d.

The Dolphin Ras Laffan gas compression project is to fill up the capacity of the Dolphin gas pipeline with this addition 1 billion cf/d expansion. 

With capital expenditure estimated around $250 million, Dolphin is planning the completion in 2015.

After winning the Lekhwair Gas Field Development project  and the Saih Rawl Depletion Compression phase 2 project, both from PDO, Larsen & Toubro is targeting the Dolphin gas compression expansion EPC contract against its main competitors Dodsal and Punj Llyod from India, GS engineering & Construction from South Korea, Saipem from Italy and Technip from France. 

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

Abu Dhabi converts Fujairah into oil and gas hub

The Abu Dhabi investment funds International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala) are leading more than $10 billion capital expenditure into midstream and downstream projects in Fujairah.

With direct access to the Gulf of Oman, Fujairah occupies a strategic position for Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in short-cutting the Strait of Hormuz and its potential risks of lockout.

IPIC made the first step with the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil  Pipeline (Adcop) to connect Abu Dhabi onshore oil fields in Habshan to Fujairah.

With 370 kilometers and for $3.3 billion capital expenditure, this crude oil pipeline was commissioned in July.

To supply the actual and future storage farms in Fujairah, the Adcop pipeline has a capacity of 1.5 million b/d allowing additional expansions in Fujairah.

While Abu Dhabi works to secure its oil export, the UAE strategy is also to increase their local added value on the crude oil.

In this context IPIC plans to build the Fujairah refinery and petrochemical complex.

This project will be developed in two phases where Fujairah:

 - Phase 1 includes only the refinery

 - Phase 2 will add an olefin plant

On the phase 1, IPIC is moving on with the Fujairah refinery to require $3.5 billion capital expenditure for 200,000 b/d of crude oil capacity.

The Shaw Group completed the  pre-front end engineering and design (feasibility study) on early 2012 and has been awarded the Project Management Consultancy (PMC) contract.

Then IPIC selected the French engineering company Technip to perfom the front end engineering and design (FEED).

With Technip due to complete this FEEDon first half 2013, IPIC is targeting the completion in 2016 in order to transform Fujairah into oil products export platform.

IPIC and Mubadala build Fujairah LNG import terminal

If Abud Dhabi is rich of oil, it is short of gas and the expansion of the Dolphin capacities in Qatar to supply Abu Dhabi is the first answer to the increasing needs of natural gas of the UAE.

In addition to secure the export of crude oil and derivatives products, IPIC and Mubadala are planning the infrastructures to guaranty the long term import of natural gas in UAE.

The population in UAE is growing and the profile of the industry is also evolving with the integration of aluminium and steel sectors boosting the power consumption.

In addition Abu Dhabi maturing oil fields request more assistance of gas injection leading the UAE to be more import dependent on gas supply.

In their joint venture, IPIC and Mubdala are planning an offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Fujairah.

Designed with offshore storage capacities and regasification units, the Fujairah LNG import terminal will be built in two phases.

To proceed on fast track, IPIC and Mubadala have already initiated the first phase with a capacity of 4.5 million t/y (600 million cf/d) of  LNG.

The engineering company Poten & Partners completed the pre-FEED on first half 2012 so that the FEED could be tendered in following.

IPIC and Mubadala awarded the FEED contract to Technip in expecting to allocate the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract in 2013 for the completion in 2015.

The second phase should follow closely to run into commercial operations by 2016.

With all the on going projects to increase storage capacity in Fujairah, IPIC and Mubadala will contribute to reduce the traffic of the tankers in the Strait of Hormuz in securing the Abu Dhabi export and import of oil and gas when the Fujairah refinery and offshore  LNG terminal will run into commercial operations in 2015.

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

BP and CNPC ramped up oil production 10% per year 

In June 2009, the international oil company BP and the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC or PetroChina) were awarded the technical services contract (TSC) for the giant Rumaila oil field in the south of Iraq, closed to the Kuwait border.

BP discovered the Rumaila oil field in 1953, but had to drop it by the nationalization under Saddam Hussein’s reign.

With estimated reserves in place of 17 billion barrels and covering 80 kilometers long by 20 kilometers wide, the giant Rumaila represents 12% of Iraq total reserves and ranks as the fourth largest crude oil field in the world.

After the war, when the Iraq Government organized the licenses rounds, BP and PetroChina won the technical services contract with a remuneration fees of $3.99 per barrel.

But after further negotiations with Iraq Government, the TSC was signed on a base of $2 per barrel remuneration fees.

At that time the Rumaila oil field production was just exceeding 1 million b/d.

From this reference of 1.066 million b/d, BP and PetroChina were given two targets:

 - Increase production by 10% the first year to trigger the payment of the $2 remuneration fees

 - Reach the plateau production of 2.8 million b/d within the next six years

To support this plan, the capital expenditure to develop Rumaila was estimated to $15 billion where the partners involved share working interests such as:

 - BP 38% is the operator

 - CNPC 37%

 - State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) 25%

BP to adjust production to Iraq infrastructure capacities

BP and CNPC awarded the front end engineering and design (FEED)contract and the project management services (PMS) contract to WorleyParsons mobilizing its offices in London, UAE and Iraq for execution.

In 2010, BP and CNPC awarded a $500 million contract to a consortium made of Weatherford, Schlumberger, Drilling Co. and Daqing Oil field Company Limited to proceed to a drilling campaign.

In 2012, BP and CNPC are confident to reach 1.35 million production on yearly base and to maintain a capacity of 1.4 million b/d capacity of production.

From this experience, BP and PetroChina consider to be able to increase production with additional 100,000 b/d every year on the next three years to reach 1.7 million b/d.

But this volume of 1.7 million b/d production appears to BP and PetroChina as the maximum possible within the limits of the actual infrastructures capacities to export the oil.

In this context any further capital expenditure from BP and PetroChina to reach the targeted level of 2.8 million b/d must be considered not in respect with the limits of the Rumaila project itself but according to the capabilities of the future export infrastructures to accept additional production capacities.

To move forward, BP and CNPC are working on multi-stages scenarios of Rumaila full-field development to set a new target for plateau production between 1.7 million b/d and 2.8 million b/d.

BP and CNPC will submit these scenarios to the Oil Ministry and the South Oil Company in charge of the assets in the South of Iraq in order to evaluate the consecutive investments to be made in infrastructures to be able to export the proposed production from Rumaila oil field.

From the SPE conference which took place during ADIPEC last week in Abu Dhabi, the figure of 2 million b/d was reported as a reasonable target for BP and CNPC while affordable by Iraq Authorities to finance infrastructures capital expenditure.

Once the new target approved, BP and CNPC will be able to adjust their capital expenditure to ramp up production accordingly in beginning with the replacement of the oil and gas processing facilities. 

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

ADCO receives bids on Bab Gas Compression Phase 2

Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) is receiving the technical and commercial offers of the engineering companies in competition for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract of the Bab Gas Compression Project phase 2.

ADCO is the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) subsidiary in charge of the onshore oil fields exploration and production.

In that respect ADCO is mandated to increase the natural gas production by all means considering the gas shortage in Abu Dhabi to meet the continuously growing consumption.

The Bab field is one of the largest onshore oil and gas field in the UAE, delivering 25% of ADCO crude oil production and 75% of its natural gas production.

Located 150 kilometers southwest Abu Dhabi City, Bad is a complex reservoir made of many different oil and gas accumulations.

Spread over approximately 1,200 square kilometers, some Bab field pockets contain only oil or gas and some other oil rims covered by gas caps.

Therefore ADCO produces crude oil, associated gas and non associated gas out of Bab field.

Because of the large variety of the oil and gas accumulations ADCO is implementing Bab field development step by step with dedicated techniques to fit with the characteristics of each oil or gas pocket.

In 2009, ADCO initiated the Bab Gas Compression Project and awarded the EPC contract for the phase 1 to SK Engineering and Construction (SKEC) from South Korea with the compressors sanctioned to Mann-Turbo from Germany.

Comprising  three compression stations, this project was the first EPC contract signed by ADCO with a South Korean contractor. 

With the Bab Gas Compression Project (BGCP) phase 1 completed, ADCO is producing 1.8 billion cubic feet per day (cf/d) of natural gas.

SKEC completed FEED for ADCO Bab compression 2

From this achievement, ADCO is willing to gear up the natural gas production up to 2.5 billion cf/d with the Bab Gas Compression Project phase 2.

As SKEC performed successfully the phase 1, ADCO awarded it the conceptual study and the front end engineering and design  (FEED) work for the phase 2.

From the FEED work conclusions submitted by SKEC to ADCO, the Bab Gas Compression Project Phase 2 includes a:

 - Fourth gas Compression Station (CS4)

 - Additional natural gas gathering system to cover 32 new production wells

 - Offsites and Utilities

The new compression station CS4 should run with three gas compressors.

These compressors will maintain the pressure in the gas pipeline connecting ADCO gas gathering system to the Habshan gas central processing facility (CPF) 

SKEC completed the FEED work on early 2012, so that ADCO could organize the call for tender of the EPC contract in following.

From the pre-qualified companies, four submitted a technical offer:

 - Intecsa from Spain

 - Petrofac from UK

 - Samsung Engineering from South Korea

 - SK Engineering and Construction from South Korea

 These companies are currently submitting the commercial offers an estimated budget of $500 million capital expenditure.

ADCO is planning to award the EPC contract for the Bab Gas Compression Project Phase 2 on first quarter 2013 in order to begin operations on early 2015.

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil  Operations

The Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) was established on 2nd December 1971 in Abu Dhabi, the largest Emirates from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

ADCO was created by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to explore and operate the onshore and shallow coastal water of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

ADNOC is the national oil company held by the Abu Dhabi Government to manage all the oil and gas assets of the Emirate, upstream, midstream and downstream.

First oil and gas concessions were signed in Abu Dhabi in 1939 with Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd, but the exploration started only in 1950 with the first discovery made in the actual Bab field.

ADCO was incorporated as a joint venture on 1978 and has been responsible, since February 1979, for onshore Abu Dhabi operations in the concession area covering more than 21,000 square kilometers.

In ADCO, ADNOC is leading the joint venture where the working interests are shared between:

 - ADNOC 60% is the operator

 - BP 9.5%

 - ExxonMobil 9.5%

 - Shell 9.5%

 - Total 9.5%

 - Partex 2%

With its onshore oil and gas fields mandate, ADCO explores and develops six oil and associated gas fields such as Asab, Bab, Buhasa, Sahil, Shah, North-East Bab (NEB) with Dabbiya, Rumaitha and Shanayel, 

With these six fields, ADCO  delivers 65% of the UAE total crude oil production of 2.5 million barrel of oil equivalent (boe) per day.

Under the govern of its stakeholders, ADCO defines its mission to explore, develop and produce hydrocarbons within its concession with the:

 - Maximum efficiency and safety

 - Optimum cost

 - Minimum impact on the environment

 - Continuous improvement

 - Highest standards of honesty and integrity.

ADCO Key Figures

As a national oil company ADCO does not published results.

In 2012, ADCO produces 1.4 million barrel of oil equivalent (boe) per day.

ADCO Projects and Business Highlights

Among the key projects ADCO is working on:

 - NEB Full Field Development including the deployment of CO2 injection techniques tested on the Rumaitha pilot case to reach 230,000 b/d production in 2016.

 - Nitrogen Gas Injection (NGI) in Thamana F

 - Bab Gas Compression Project phase 2 to boost production from the Bab field to 2.5 billion cf/d of natural gas

  – Asab Full Field Development to increase production from 290,000b/d to 340,000 b/d of crude oil.

 With the support of its actual partners BP, ExxonMobil, Partex, Shell, Total or potential new ones, OMV, Statoil and Wintershall, ADCO will have to invest massively to overcome two challenges: increase crude oil production to meet OPEC quotas, and find gas wherever possible to secure Abu Dhabi independence. 

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

Resources and Energy

With Headoffice in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, WorleyParsons was established in 2004 from the acquisition of the Californian engineering company Parsons E&C by the Australian Worley.

Parsons E&C had a long history since 1944 in the downstream sector, refining, petrochemicals and power.

Worley was established under the actual form in 1987 from the Australian branch of an American company well recognized in the offshore oil and gas engineering services.

Because of the solid reputation of both companies in their respective and upstream – downstream complementary areas, the decision was made to merge both brands into WorleyParsons.

Since then, WorleyParsons continued to grow steadily organically and by acquisitions.

Over the years WorleyParsons expanded its competence to cover more industrial segments and geographically in becoming a global company with 40,800 employees working in 163 offices across 41 countries.

Today, WorleyParsons defines its core business around Resources and Energy where industries are operated by complex processes.

Compared with other engineering companies, WorleyParsons is providing its services along the full life cycle of the assets, from the early design to the construction, operations services, revamping and upgrade.

From this approach, WorleyParsons, uses the brownfield business to position itself on  greenfield opportunities and extends the greenfield successes into brownfield services contracts.

Since 2011, WorleyParsons implements its BP Global Service Agreement for onshore facilities with engineering and project management services.

For some years WorleyParsons put a special focus on Canada and Middle-East.

Since 2011, WorleyParsons booked the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for

 - Syncrude Canada’s Aurora Mine

 - MEG Energy‘s Christina Lake steam assisted gravity drainage project.

 - ExxonMobil Hebron Topsides

 - BP and PetroChina Iraq Rumailla oil field

 - Oman Oil Block 60

Beside its oil and gas and petrochemical activities, WorleyParsons is developing a comprehensive engineering and services offering to the energy sector dedicated to the reduction of the CO2 emissions for utilities, metal and mining, energy infrastructures.

Worley Parsons Key Figures

  – 2011 Revenues: $5,68 billion

 - 2010 Revenues: $5,09 billion

 - 2009 Revenues: $5,8 billion

 - 2011 Earnings: $0,49 billion

 - 2010 Earnings: $0,39 billion

 - 2009 Earnings: $0,56 billion

Worley Parsons Projects and Business Highlights

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

Effectively produce hydrocarbons from offshore areas

Firstly established as Abu Dhabi Marine Areas Limited (ADMA) to explore and produce offshore Abu Dhabi oil and gas,  Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO) exported the first tanker of crude from Das Island to Japan in July 1962.

Named British tanker, this first export vessel was celebrating the successful development of the Umm Shaif field in the Trucial Coast by British team who came in as early as 1950 and drilled the first well in 1958.

In 1972, Japanese partners stepped in ADMA with Japan Oil Development Corporation (JODCO) buying 45% of BP‘s shares in ADMA.

Then in 1974, the Abu Dhabi Authorities were creating theAbu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to manage the oil and gas assets in the Emirate.

Through the General Agreement on Participation, ADNOC took over 60% of the interests in ADMA and became the reference shareholder.

Few years later, in 1972, ADMA made the last step in becoming the operator of the joint venture and was renamed Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO).

Today, the interests in ADMA-OPCO are shared between the partners such as:

 - ADNOC 60% is the operator

 - BP 14.66%

 - Total 13.33%

 - JODCO 12%

Since 1962, ADMA-OPCO main assets rely on the tow giant offshore oil and gas fields of Umm Shaif and Zakum.

These fields are producing crude oil for 50 years and still offer recoverable reserves for major developments.

Umm Shaif is located 150 kilometers offshore north from Abu Dhabi, but only 36  kilometers from Das Island to allow the crude oil to be exported from the production platforms to Das Island by pipeline for processing and shipment.

Zakum, or Lower Zakum, contains more oil and gas reserves than Umm Shaif, but saw the first well drilled in 1963, 63 kilometers from Abu Dhabi and 81 kilometers from Das Island.

Despite the longer distance, Zakum crude oil production is also exported to Das Island for treatment and shipping.

Located 160 kilometers from Abu Dhabi, Das Island is ADMA-OPCO main operating center. 

ADMA-OPCO Key Figures

As national oil company, ADMA-OPCO does not publish revenues and earnings.

2010 Crude oil production 481,000 b/d

2010 Natural gas production 1,8844 million cf/d

from which

 - 1,115 million cf/d were sold

 -  664 million cf/d were reinjected

 - 65 millioncf/d were consumed or flared

Adma-Opco Projects and Business Highlights

Abu Dhabi to decide now in order to meet OPEC quotas

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its partners, ExxonMobil and Japan Oil Development Company Ltd. (Jodco), are on the point to award the second engineering, procurement and construction contract (EPC-2) for ZADCO Upper Zakum 750 project.

ZADCO stands as the Zakum Development Company (ZADCO), a joint venture created in 1977 which currently is shared between:

 - ADNOC 60%, the operator

 - ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Ltd. (EMAD) 28% 

 - Japan Oil Development Company Ltd. (Jodco) 12%.

Through ZADCO, ADNOC, ExxonMobil and JODCO are willing to move ahead with the selection of the winning consortium for Upper Zakum 750 (UZ750)  project EPC-2 despite the significant excess of all the offers submitted by the bidding companies.

Originally estimated around $2 billion capital expenditure, this Upper Kakum EPC-2 package is actually ending around $4 billion from the actual offers on ZADCO table.

Three consortium in competition are very close to each other around this number:

 - Hyundai Heavy Industries with KBR

 - Technip with NPCC

 - Samsung Engineering

Then two other teams are much further with no chance any longer.

From this situation ADCO has the choice between three options:

 - Organize new bids on the same scope

 - Review the scope of work to reduce costs

 - Select one bidder now and go ahead

The first option is the easiest to organize and could be implemented in a short period of time, but since the three bidders are very close to each other, no major discount might be expected. 

In addition if one of the three bidders which has already invested a lot of money on this offer was withdrawing from the competition, the result may be worst than the actual situation.

ADNOC, ExxonMobil and JODCO to meet deadline

The second option would carry significant savings, but at the scale of the project any decent re-work of the engineering would cost anyway money and take one year.

This delay would have a cascade of consequences because this UZ 750 EPC-2 project is a critical package between the Upper Zakum 750 EPC-1 project for the oil and gas production and the Zirku Island Expansion project for the oil and gas central processing facilities and export.

The Upper Zakum EPC-1 project is the upstream part of Upper Zakum development project, it has been already awarded to Technip and NPCC on first half 2012 for $800 million capital expenditure.

For the Zirku Island Expansion, Foster Wheelercompleted the pre-front end engineering and design (pre-FEED) and ZADCO is planning to award the FEED contract on first quarter 2013 in targeting to sign the EPC contract on early 2015 for completion in 2017.

This deadline for the whole Upper Zakum development project involving the three projects UZ750 EPC-1, UZ750 EPC-2 and Zirku Island Expansion is critical for Abu Dhabi to meet its OPEC quotas given for 2018.

Revised several times from 2006 to 2011 and finally to 2018, Abu Dhabi is committed to reach 3.5 million b/d production by then instead of the actual 2.8 million b/d.

In consequence Abu Dhabi must increase production capacities by 700,000 b/d.

With 250,000 b/d additional production, the Upper Zakum field is carrying most of the efforts to meet this 2018 target that cannot suffer from any delay.

In this context the third option to make a decision now and go ahead for Upper Zakum EPC-2 seems to be the most likely solution so that a letter of intend should be issued soon.

In this scenario where the three bidders are at the same level, the logic would recommend ADNOC and its ZADCO partners, ExxonMobil and JODCO, to chose the engineering company offering the less risks.   

 For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer

together WE achieve

Based in Abu Dhabi within the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Abu Dhabi National Company (ChemaWeYaat) was established recently in 2008 as the spearhead of the petrochemical industry in the UAE.

In order to create immediately a regional champion and develop synergies, the stakeholders transferred their respective petrochemical assets into their purposely formed ChemaWeYaat subsidiary.

As a result ChemaWeYaat is currently owned by:

 - Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) 20%

 - International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) 40%

 - Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) 40% 

As a result of the consolidation exercise in ChemaWEEyaat of their respective petrochemical assets, the owners transferred:

 - ADNOC Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge) located in Ruwais

 - ADNOC Borouge Marketing PTE in Singapore

 - Ruwais Fertilizers Industries (Fertil)

 - Overseas IPIC petrochemical activities. 

In Abu Dhabi, the main ChemaWeYaat petrochemical assets are located in:

 - Madeenat Al Gharbia

 - Al Taweelah

In setting up this regional champion, ADNOC and its partners aim at building ChemaWeYaat market leadership on reliability, quality, cutting-edge technology and competitive feedstock.

In order to develop synergies and share good practice without delay, ChemaWeYaat is active member of the Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association (GPCA).

ChemaWeYaat is also partnering with international chemical operators, engineering companies and licensors such as ADNOC, Borealis, Neste Jacobs, or WorleyParsons to develop the most advance expertise in the hydrocarbon transformation.

ChemaWEyaat Key Figures

As national company, ChemaWeYaat is not listed and does not publish figures

ChemaWEyaat Projects and Business Highlights

As a young company made of production units coming from different horizons, the priority for ChemaWeYaat is to implement an integrated business model as its closest competitors in the Gulf.

Benchmarking Ras Laffan Indusrial City in Qatar or Al-Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi wants to build the Chemical City for ChemaWeYaat.

In December 2010, the Abu Dhabi Government made the choice of the location and approved the master plan of the future petrochemical complex to be erected there.

This master plan is designed around the sites of Madeenat ChemaWeYaat Al Gharbia, as well as the other production site in Al Taweelah.

Located on the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, Al-Gharbia benefit from 70 square kilometers next to Ruwais industrial complex.

On the model of Ras Laffan, Al-Gharbia include an export terminal, facilities to take in seawater, and a cooling system for the industrial city.

We Refine Right

The Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company, so called TAKREER, is the operational entity of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in charge of the refining business.

Until 1999, the downstream activities were left as a branch within ADNOC, but with the development of this sector in Abu Dhabi and major projects to be launched in the years 2000s, ADNOC decided to separate it and establish a dedicated entity to handle it.

Under TAKREER umbrella, ADNOC transfered all the activities related to:

 - Crude oil refining

 - Condensate transformation

 - Supply of petroleum products

 - Sulfur treatment and granulation for export

TAKREER key assets rely on the Abu Dhabi Refinery and the Ruwais refinery.

As the first refinery in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Abu Dhabi Refinery started operations in 1976 with a capacity of 15,000 b/d and a capital expenditure of $45 million.

In 1982, ADNOC proceeded to a first expansion to 60,000 b/d capacity.

In 1990, the Umm al Nar salt and chlorine plant was merged with the Abu Dhabi Refinery to become the ADNOC Abu Dhabi Refinery and Chlorine Division.

In 1992, ADNOC decided a new expansion to 85,000 b/d and the upgrade of the process with desulfurization and sulfur handling units.

The Abu Dhabi Refinery holds 500,000 cubic meter storage capacities connected to a marine terminal for loading and unloading tankers.

The Ruwais refinery was commissioned few years later in 1982 in the western region of the Emirate, 240 kilometers west of Abu Dhabi City with a capacity of 120,000 b/d.

The purpose was to create the Ruwais Industrial complex around this refinery.

In 1985, ADNOC invested in a first expansion of 27,000 b/d, and in 1986 the refinery was merged with the Ruwais General Utilities Plant for the supply of power and water.

In 1991, ADNOC added the sulfur handling and granulation units to become one of the largest in the world.

In 2002, TAKREER commissioned two condensate processing trains of 140,000 b/d, also among the largest in the world.

Today, the Ruwais Refinery manages a farm of 91 tanks with a storage capacity of 3 million cubic meters linked to a marine terminal.

Now integrated in the refinery, the Ruwais utilities run a 650 MW gas-fired power plant and a 60,000 cubic meters per day desalination facility. 

Today, the Abu Dhabi Refinery and the Ruwais Refinery have a capacity of 460,000 b/d (23 million t/y) of crude oil and condensate.

TAKREER Key Figures

As part of a national oil and non-listed company, TAKREER does not publish figures.

TAKREER Projects and Business Highlights

Abu Dhabi is targeting to increase its crude oil production to meet its OPEC quotas 2018.

In the same time Abu Dhabi strategy is defined to reduce its reliance on this crude oil market in developing the downstream activities.

In parallel, Abu Dhabi is running short of natural gas meaning that the development of the downstream activities including the petrochemical sector will be mainly based on crude oil.

In this context, TAKREER will take a leading role in ADNOC strategy for growth, value creation and employement.

As a first step of its development, TAKREER awarded in June 2012 a $2.5 billion engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to Samsung Engineering from South Korea for the construction of a carbon black delayed coker (CBDC) at the Ruwais Industrial Complex.

The purpose of this new plant is to produce higher value added products such as synthetic rubber and resins from the crude oil refining and heavy residual oil recycling.

This project will include 12 processing units and 23 infrastructure offsites and utilities.

Planned to start operations in 2015, this carbon black delayed coker project reflects the $10 billion refinery expansion planned in Ruwais Industrial City.

UAE Key Projects and Business Highlights

In the United Arab Emirates, 2012 is some kind of a transition year with the development of midstream projects in Fujairah and the bid preparation of large projects upstream and downstream.

With the completion of Habshan – Fujairah export pipeline, Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco) will be able to roughly half its total production directly on the Gulf of Oman to shunt the Strait of Hormuz.

This pipeline opens the way to a wave of capital expenditure in new projects to build giant storage capacities in Fujairah and a $3 billion refinery.

Abu Dhabi is planning to increase crude oil production from the actual 2.8 million b/d to 3.5 million b/d in 2018 and therefore needs to find to routes to secure its export.

To support this production growth, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is planning major initiatives:

 -  Zakum Development Company (ZADCO) to spend $4.8 billion in the Upper Zakum project (UZ750)

 - Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (Adma-Opco) is working on the $2 billion Umm al Lulu and Sarb project

 - ADNOC selected OMV and Wintershall to appraise Shuwaihat sour gas and condensate field.

The UAE are running short of gas, as many countries in the Gulf and is prepared to import it through the Fujairah terminal if necessary.

In the meantime, ADNOC is investigating all ways to gathering flared gas and boost actual production such as in Bab field.

In cooperating with new comers such as Statoil, OMV and Wintershall, ADNOC is sending the signal to its actual partners BP, ExxonMobil, Partex, Shell, Total, that the selection of the international companies to be invited to bid on the renewal of the concessions in 2014 for the onshore fields and in 2018 for the offshore licenses will be decided in respect with the new technologies to be developed in the UAE.

In addition to maintain the gas production, ADNOC is targeting to improve its recovery rate from the actual fields in operations.

Through all these investments, the UAE and Abu Dhabi especially, will continue to invest in the coming years to secure their market share on the crude oil global market and to reduce their reliance on crude oil price in developing an integrated upstream-downstream business model to benefit from the whole hydrocarbon value chain.

ADNOC to boost upstream projects over downstream

With the Ruwais Carbon black and delayed coker (CBDC) facilities, Abu Dhabi Refining Company (Takreer) awarded the only giant project in the UAE during the first half 2012.

This downstream project came after a long period without major capital expenditure in the UAE since the Borealis and Abu Dhabi Polymers Company $3 billion Borouge expansion in 2010.

Takreer awarded:

 - In June 2012, the Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Ruwais refinery carbon black and delayed coker toSamsung Engineering from South Korea for $2.47 billion

>>> More information

ZADCO to award soon Upper Zakum 750 EPC-2 project

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its partners, ExxonMobil and Japan Oil Development Company Ltd. (Jodco), are on the point to award the second engineering, procurement and construction contract (EPC-2) for ZADCO Upper Zakum 750 project.

ZADCO stands as the Zakum Development Company (ZADCO), a joint venture created in 1977 which currently is shared between:

>>> More information

Abu Dhabi prepares oil and gas concessions renewal

With the onshore concessions expiring in 2014 and the offshore ones coming up in2018, Abu Dhabi, in the UAE,  is to rewrite the terms of its producing fields and offer up fresh prospects.

The first oil concessions covering all the Abu Dhabi territory were awarded in 1939 to the Trucial Coast Development Company in which the majors BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total were part of.

>>> More information

Fujairah targets 13.3 m cubic meters oil storage in 2015

The Strait of Hormuz is channelizing35% of the global oil maritime traffic.

In a context of increasing tension with the neighboring Iran, Fujairah in the UAE is developing one of the biggest oil storage

>>> More information

$3 billion Fujairah refinery, IPIC calls for bid on FEED

International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) is moving ahead with the crude oil refinery project to be located at Fujairah, UAE.

The Fujairah refinery, should have a capacity of 10.0 million t/y or 200,000 b/d.

>>> More information

For more information and data about oil and gas and petrochemical projects go to Project Smart Explorer