Page 12 - MEOG Week 22 2022

MEOG TENDERS MEOG

CPECC awarded work on

Iraqi gas capture project

IRAQ CHINA Petroleum Engineering and Construc- In February, Ali Khudair, general manager at
tion Co. (CPECC) announced last week that it Dhi Qar Oil Co. (DQOC), the regional affiliate
had been awarded an engineering project by US of the Iraqi National Oil Co. (INOC), said that
firm Baker Hughes for a gas capture project in Baker Hughes had made progress on the project.
Iraq’s Dhi Qar Governorate. “The company started work on the ground in the
The contract will see the Chinese company, Nasiriyah field to build the plant about three to
the engineering division of state-owned China four months ago, after completing the design
National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), carry out process … the equipment is now in the process
detailed design work on a plant to process gas of manufacturing,” he said.
associated with oil production from the Nassiri- Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar antic-
yah and Gharraf oilfields. ipates that the facility should be completed by
In September, Baker Hughes signed a deal mid-2024 and will aid Iraq in its effort to reduce
with Iraq’s Ministry of Oil (MoO) to capture up flaring.
to 200mn cubic feet (5.7mn cubic metres) per The estimated 1.3bn-barrel Gharraf field,
day of gas from the fields – 80 mmcf (2.27 mcm) located around 85 km north of Nassiriyah city,
from Nassiriyah and 120 mmcf (3.4 mcm) from is operated by Malaysia’s Petronas, which holds
Gharraf. This provided for the US company to 45%. It is partnered by Japan Petroleum Explora-
construct modular gas processing facilities at the tion (JAPEX) with 30% and state-owned North
oilfields to capture associated gas and built on a Oil Co. (NOC). The licence was awarded during
2017 agreement between Baker Hughes and the Baghdad’s second international licensing round
South Gas Co. which sought to produce around in late 2009.
100 mmcf (2.8 mcm) per day of gas by dehydrat- Production belatedly commenced at 100,000
ing and compressing associated gas from the two barrels per day in 2014 but the tendering process
fields. initiated the following year to more than double
The dry gas will be used chiefly in domestic output in pursuit of a plateau target of 230,000
power generation, while the LPG and conden- bpd appeared to stall in the wake of the govern-
sate will be deployed first to meet local demand ment’s financial and security crises that erupted
for cooking fuel – with the remainder sent for that year.
export. Capacity at Nasiriyah, which is operated by
Speaking to MEOG in September, a repre- DQOC, is believed to stand at around 70,000
sentative of the MoO said that the agreement bpd, though production over the last two years
had been expected to be signed in 2020 but was has been hamstrung by Baghdad’s efforts to com-
delayed on account of the coronavirus (COVID- ply with OPEC+ output restrictions. DQOC also
19) pandemic. oversees the development of the Subba field.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 22 01•June•2022