Page 10 - MEOG Week 02 2021

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Iran finally closing in on Azar completion

IRAN IRAN will soon inaugurate the first development wells and the laying of 129 km of pipelines.
phase of the Azar oilfield despite production Production is transported by pipeline to pro-
having begun in 2017. cessing facilities at Dehloran oilfield.
Last week, Oil Industries Engineering and Azar is located in the onshore Anaran block,
Construction Co. (OIEC) director Gholam- which covers 3,500 square km. It was discov-
reza Manouchehri said: “Considering the 97% ered in April 2000 following the block’s award
progress of the first phase of this joint field’s to Norsk Hydro in the 1998 licensing round. It
development project, it will be ready for official holds an estimated 2.5bn barrels of oil in place
inauguration soon.” (OIP), with combined recoverable oil and gas
These comments suggest that no progress reserves estimated at 425-475mn barrels.
has been made since October, when Petroleum Azar’s crude has an API gravity of 33, but its
Engineering and Development Co.’s (PEDEC) high sulphur content necessitates the use of spe-
manager for Azar first said 97% completion had cialised technology and machinery made from
been achieved. advanced alloys.
At the time, Keyvan Yarahmadi told the local Following the discovery of oil at Azar and
ILNA media outlet that cumulative output from the nearby Changuleh field, Norsk Hydro was
Azar had reached more than 30mn barrels, joined by Russia’s Lukoil in developing the site.
adding that completion would follow shortly, at Lukoil pulled out of its 25% stake in the entire
which point the asset will be fully operational. Anaran block in 2008/9 after various sanctions
Meanwhile, OIEC’s Manouchehri said that by the US and EU countries were imposed, fol-
to date, total investment in Azar had reached lowed by the Norwegian company’s withdrawal
$1.72bn from the National Iranian Oil Co. from its 75% stake in 2011, after the sanctions
(NIOC) and a consortium of OIEC and Ahdaf were intensified.
Finance Co. since they took control of the asset in Following the announcement of the Joint
September 2011. PEDEC oversees the develop- Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015,
ment of the field on behalf of the project partners. various IOCs signed memoranda of understand-
Production began at 15,000 barrels per day in ing (MoUs) for fields in the Anaran block, either
February 2017. In 2019, output averaged 31,000 for single or multiple fields, including Norway’s
bpd, with the completion of phase one expected DNO, Thailand’s PTTEP and Russia’s Gaz-
to raise production to 65,000 bpd. This early pro- prom Neft and Lukoil. However, these were all
duction phase has included the drilling of nine scrapped when the US backed out of the deal.™

TENDERS

Qatar hires McDermott for LNG FEED work

QATAR QATARGAS has handed a front-end engineer- (NFE) project, which will ramp up the coun-
ing design (FEED) contract to McDermott Inter- try’s liquefaction capacity from 77mn to 110mn
national for the North Field South (NFS) project, tonnes per year (tpy). This first expansion stage is
which represents the second stage in Qatar’s plan expected to begin flowing gas by 2025.
to expand its LNG production capacity over the NFS will raise output further to 126mn tpy
next decade. by the late 2020s. The contract with McDermott
The contract covers the replication of five off- marks the first major award by Qatar for this
shore wellhead platforms, McDermott said on stage. The US company did not disclose its value.
January 6, noting that work at its office in Doha For NFE, Qatar Petroleum hired Air Products
would begin immediately. last August to supply gas liquefaction technology
“For more than 30 years, McDermott has and equipment, and Baker Hughes two months
executed projects in Qatar’s North Field, and we later for multiple refrigerant compressors. Last
will leverage our experience and local resources year it also reserved LNG shipbuilding capacity
to successfully deliver this project,” McDermott with three South Korean shipbuilders in an order
said. worth $19bn, to build a fleet to deliver its extra
“As oil and gas field development continues in production to markets.
the region, we are poised to build on this initial As oil and gas producers face increasing scru-
work to further support Qatargas as they pro- tiny over emissions from their operations, Qatar
gress the subsequent phases of the NFS project.” aims to capture and store some 7mn tpy of CO2
Qatar Petroleum started development drill- from its LNG facilities by 2027, its energy minis-
ing in March last year at the North Field East ter, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, said in December.™

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