Page 9 - DMEA Week 38.pdf

DMEA PiPelines DMEA
AB pipeline shut following Saudi attacks
middle east
BAHrAIN Petroleum Co. (BAPCO) was searching for maritime shipments of Saudi Ara- bian crude last week after its neighbour closed the Saudi-Bahrain A-B oil pipeline following attacks at Abqaiq and Khurais.
reuters quoted sources as saying that BAPCO had been seeking around 2mn barrels of Saudi crude to replace pipeline flows to its refinery at Sitrah, south of Manama.
Meanwhile, a 22,000 barrel per day crude distillation unit (CDU) at the facility was closed completely, and another CDU, a 10,200 bpd vac- uum distillation unit and a 24,000 bpd visbreaker unit cut utilisation rates to 45%, according to the reuters sources.
The flagship refinery runs primarily on around 225,000 bpd of Arabian Light crude, which is piped from the processing facilities at Abqaiq, which clean and remove sand and sul- phur from the crude.
BAPCO and Saudi Aramco have commis- sioned phase four of the A-B oil pipeline, taking total capacity to 350,000 bpd.
The long-planned link comprises a 112-km, 762-mm pipeline that replaces the ageing exist- ing link.
The main engineering, procurement and con- struction (ePC) contracts were apportioned in 2015 on the $350mn scheme. The completion of the new conduit was a prerequisite for progress on a similarly long-planned expansion of the refinery. The $6bn refinery upgrade programme kicked off earlier this year.
The main ePC contract on the so-called BAPCO Modernisation Project was awarded for $4.2bn to a consortium of London-listed Tech- nipFMC, South Korea’s Samsung engineering and Spain’s Tecnicas reunidas. This calls for an increase in capacity from 267,000 bpd to 360,000 bpd and the installation of new units for the pro- duction of cleaner, higher-value fuels.
In July, BAPCO CeO Pete Bartlett said that $1bn of the anticipated total outlay of $6bn had been spent as the firm seeks to upgrade and expand the facility. The modernised refinery is scheduled to be commissioned by early 2023.™
Oman still keen on Iran gas pipeline
middle east
OMAN’S energy minister said earlier this month that the sultanate was still engaged with Iran on a pipeline project to transport gas across the Strait of Hormuz, but that progress had slowed.
Mohammed Al rumhy told reporters in Abu Dhabi: “There are some issues we’re talking about but we’re trying to keep the momentum going, so it’s not completely in hibernation. It’s going well, but it’s going slow.”
The 2014 memorandum of understand- ing (MoU) between the two countries stipu- lated that Oman would import at least 10 bn cubic metres per year of gas from Iran for 25 years beginning in 2017, National Iranian gas export Co. (NIgeC) managing director Mehran Amir-Moeini said last year that 43 bcm per year would be imported for 15 years.
This represents a total increase of 395 bcm.
The land section of the project will comprise around 200km of 56-inch (1,422-mm) pipeline to run from rudan to Mobarak Mount in Iran’s southern Hormuzgan Province. The subsea sec- tion will be 192km in length, with a diameter of 36 inches (889 mm), and this will run along the seabed at depths of up to 1,340 metres, from Iran
to the Omani port of Sohar.
The deal agreed in 2014 was intended by Iran
to enter, by proxy, the LNg market by utilising unused export capacity at Oman LNg.
In 2018, Amir-Moeini said that Iran would offer its own modified versions of standard engi- neering, procurement, construction, financing (ePCF), or building, operation, transfer (BOT) contract types. NIgeC will carry the risks on the ePCF contracts, with contractors bearing the risks on the BOTs.™
Week 38 26•September•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P9