Page 6 - MEOG Week 25
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MEOG PIPeLInes & transPort MEOG
SNOC, Uniper sticking with LNG plans
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SHARJAH’S state oil rm SnoC and Germany’s Uniper have announced that they intend to pro- ceed with slow-moving plans to establish regasi- cation facilities in the emirate.
e pair announced the initiative in october 2016, signing an MoU to import an unspeci ed quantity of lnG, targeting start-up in Q2 2018, just ahead of the annual period of peak demand. A start-up date of 2020 has been discussed more recently, though the lack of progress to date is unlikely to help.
e fuel will be delivered at Hamriyah and piped to the Sajaa Gas Complex before transfer into the existing pipeline network for supply throughout Sharjah and the other northern Emirates.
“We recognise the urgent need of the north- ern Emirates for a reliable supply of natural gas that can be easily distributed to support large and small consumers, from the big power gen- eratorstosmallbusinesses,”SnoCCEoHatem al-Mosa said in a statement at the time.
SnoC’s and the emirate’s main producing asset is the Sajaa eld, discovered in 1978 and now yielding around 7.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year of gas for processing at Sajaa and delivery to local power stations. Super-major BP, the government’s partner since the eld’s discov- ery, handed its share back to the state in 2013.
e news follows the January announcement that Italy’s Eni had further extended its UAE reach by winning all three of the blocks o ered in an onshore bid round launched in June by SnoC.
Eni will take 75% operating stakes in con- cession Areas A and C – covering respectively 437 square km in the north and 1,184 square km in the south-east – with SnoC holding the remainder.
At the 264-square km Area B, in the centre – containing both the existing Sajaa gas and con- densate eld and a known but unappraised deep gas discovery – each company will take a 50% interest, with the local rm as operator.
According to information provided at the auction’s outset, Eni will be required to drill at least one well at Area A and acquire 600 km of seismic at Area C during the initial exploration period. e licences will run for 30 years.
Allthreeblockslieintheproven rustZone play and were promoted by the authorities on the basis that elds in the area had already yielded 142 bcm of reserves.
e pitch also trumpeted the purported ease of commercialising any discoveries by dint of their potential connection to extensive exist- ing production and processing infrastructure, installed chie y to serve the Sajaa eld.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 25 25•June•2019