Do you know that 2019 will witness a huge number of high-profile projects across the region?
Well, in recent months the nations of OPEC have agreed to curb production in U.S. and Russian oil and gas industries. This year, Saudi Arabia continues its diversification in the downstream sector with a large-scale refinery project. Meanwhile, Iraq, Iran, and UAE will develop their upstream sectors with either new fields or redevelopment of the existing fields to increase production numbers.
Now, the question is which projects in 2019 are worth watching?
Here, we have selected 10 projects which are expected to create major employment opportunities and make a huge contribution to the economy-
1. Zubair Oil Field – Enhanced Re-Development Phase (EP) and Rehabilitation Phase (RP)
Location – Iraq
Zubair field is one of the largest oil fields in the world. It is located in southern Iraq, west of Basrah. It is a subject of significant development throughout 2019 as Italian energy giant Eni seeks to boost production. According to the plans, Eni boost production from 1,95,000 to a plateau in seven years.
The project is usually carried out in two phases – Rehabilitation Phase (RP) and Enhanced Re-Development Phase (EP). The first RP phase typically takes two years while the EP phase will take another six years.
The elements of this project are –
- The 18-inch carbon steel gas pipeline design, supply, and commissioning. They carry up to 100 million cubic feet of gas from a depot to the Zubair field to the Fao depot, in a day.
- Construction of five degassing stations.
- Revamping the existing degassing stations.
- Overhaul of existing wells and the structure of a new water injection project.
Halliburton has signed two contracts with Eni operators to provide integrated drilling services at the Zubair oil field.
Over the next two years, approximately four to six rigs will be mobilised to drill development wells.
2. South Pars Phases 13-14
Location – Iran
Pars Oil & Gas companies is a major offshore project which plays an essential role in the development of the LNG industry. It’s the development of the SP13 and SP14 blocks that will fix a supply of natural gas to the Persian LNG project. The event of two blocks is taking place as two separate developments, and it involves the classification of a wide array of assets. The facilities used in the development of SP14 includes four platforms, 44 wells, two main pipelines, 2 MEG injection pipelines, and two infield pipelines.
By now, production must have begun from at least Phase 13 with gas being transferred to the onshore refinery.
3. Kish Gas Field
Location – Iran
Kish Gas Fields was discovered in 2006 by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). It is said to be the world’s biggest offshore gas field, and its development is a priority for Iran.
Kish Gas Field contains estimated reserves of 59 trillion cubic feet of gas, of which around 48 trillion cubic feet is recoverable. Apart from that, the field holds 946 million barrels of condensate of which 331 million barrels are recoverable.
According to reports, the management of the Kish Gas has recently been transferred by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to Pars Oil & Gas Co. (POGC).
The development of the Kish Gas Field is carried out in three phases –
Phase 1 – Phase 1 will aim for a production rate of 1 Bcf/d, and it will focus on coastal field development.
Phase 2 and Phase 3 – Whereas, Phase 2 and Phase 3 will focus on the development of the offshore part of the field with the production in the area of 3 Bcf/d.
Gathering Systems, Export Pipelines, and Gas Processing Facilities are also built as a part of field development.
4. Petro Rabigh Petrochemical Complex & Integrated Refinery – Phase II
Location – Saudi Arabia
Petro Rabigh Integrated & Petrochemical Complex are making continuous efforts to expand the oil and gas industry, and it is quite evident from the Phase II project.
Phase II of refinery development will witness an extension of existing ethane cracker and aromatics complex. It also focuses on the construction of 15 downstream chemical production plants.
The expansion will also introduce a wide array of petrochemical derivative, which makes a significant impact on Saudi’s diversified efforts. It will help in meeting the rising demand for Petrochemical products from China and the Far East.
The production of the new Petrochemical derivatives will be achieved due to the construction of additional furnace capacity and increasing capacity of aromatics plants. Apart from that, a new metathesis unit will be built which will be fed with a propane stream and ethylene to produce propylene.
In short, Phase II will witness the construction of 17 new chemical derivative production facilities.
5. Jizan – Grassroots Export Refinery
Location – Saudi Arabia
The Jizan Project will witness the construction of a refinery with an associated marine terminal in Saudi southwest.
It is expected to hold a capacity of 4,00,000 barrels a day. The refinery will have several vacuum distillation units and crude distillation units, off-sites and utilities, flare towers, storage tanks, and various pipelines.
The construction of Jizan is expected to take four years.
Jizan is divided into two phases; the first part will be a simple hydroskimming refinery which will provide the necessary fuel products. The second phase will see a hydrocracker which will produce gasoline products.
It is predicted that refinery will handle heavy and sweet crudes while integrating petrochemical and power elements. The product slate will include two grades of petrol, fuel oil, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and bitumen, and it will be found in the U.S. and Europe. By the second half of June 2019, the first production from Jizan is expected.
6. Abu Dhabi Onshore Oil Production Increase Capacity Project
Location – UAE
The first UAE project is the Abu Dhabi Onshore Oil Production Capacity Increase Project. It aims to increase Abu Dhabi’s onshore oil production capacity from 1.4 to 1.8 million bpd.
The project is targeting a lot of onshore fields such as Bida Al-Qemzan, Ruwais, Qushawira, Bab, Northeast Bab Fields and Al-Dabbiya. It is a significant plan in the emirate so that sustainable production capacity can be increased from 2.7 to 3.5 MMbbl/d.
The project development program involves the drilling of development and production wells.
7. Al Fadhili Gas Plant
Location – Saudi Arabia
Al Fadhili Gas Plant has a capacity of 2.5 Bcf/d of sour gas. It will be a greenfield development situated at Al Fadhili oil field. The construction is carried out in three EPC packages –
Package 1 – Main Processing Facilities
Package 2 – Sulphur Recovery Unit
Package 3 – Offsites and Utilities
The project will include a pipeline project, as well.
It is expected that 4500 employment opportunities will be generated during the construction and operating phases of the gas plant. Apart from this, a training centre will also be set up in collaboration with the project contractors to develop local technical skills.
8. Maysan Refinery
Location – Iraq
Since Iraq’s nameplate is struggling to meet domestic demand in recent years, hence, projects such as Maysan Refinery have high demand
The Maysan Refinery consists of a 47,500 b/d Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit, and Swiss industrial firm Satarem leads the construction of the Maysan Refinery. The funding is provided by the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China.
On completion, the refinery will be operated by Iraqi-state which is owned by Missan Oil Co. on behalf of owners Wahan and Satarem.
The refinery construction began in February 2016, but the project is facing a lot of delays and has not been completed yet.
9. Lower Fars Heavy Oil Field Development
Location – Kuwait
Lower Fars Heavy Oil Field represents the first use of enhanced oil recovery techniques for a commercial project in Kuwait. Being located at Al Jaharah in North Kuwait, it aims to produce heavy oil of 60,000 b/d and is expected to rise 2,70,000 b/d by 2030. Various recovery techniques are used to include cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and steam flood technology to achieve higher recovery rates and more extended production capacity. The development of the field will consist of the construction of plant buildings, pipelines, and flowlines.
Currently, the project is managed by the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).
10. Leviathan Gas Field
Location – Israel
The Leviathan Gas Field was discovered in December 2010. It is located in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel, and it holds significant reserves of natural gas. These reserves are estimated to be in between a range of 16.5 Tcf to 26.5 Tcf.
Do you know that Leviathan Gas Field has enough gas to meet Israel’s domestic needs for at least 40 years?
Leviathan Gas Field will occur in two phases –
The first stage involves drilling four production wells at an average depth of around 5,000 metres below sea level.
Annually, these wells should produce about 12 billion cubic metres of gas. Phase 1 includes the construction of two underwater pipes some 117 kilometres which are connected to a processing and production platform.
The development of Phase 2 will see four further wells drilled and an increase in the treatment capacity of the offshore platform.
The project production capacity will be 21 BCM per annum.
Well, 2019 is surely going to be an exciting year for workforce or professionals across the Middle East. And these major projects will need a huge workforce to suit their requirements.
And hence, that is where we come into the picture. We are a leading and the most preferred oil and gas recruitment agency who help companies to recruit workforce.
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