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MEOG tenders MEOG
Ratqa contract award delayed as pushbacks continue
KuWait
REPORTS emerged last week that the award of a contract by Kuwait Oil Co. (KOC) had been delayed owing to concern from contractors.
On November 21, Middle East Energy Digest (MEED) quoted local sources as saying that the deal “for well hook-ups and associated works in South Ratqa is delayed after concerns [were] raised by contractors”.
In late August, KOC CEO Emad Sultan told S&PPlattsthat“Anextensivenumberofwellsto develop heavy oil were drilled in previous years in South Ratqa, and we expect to turn over a new central production facility to handle heavy oil production by February 2020.”
He added that “the commissioning of this new facility will add 60,000 barrels of heavy oil per day to the KOC production mix, reaching a total of 75,000 bpd of heavy oil production,” without specifying the timeline.
Platts also quoted KOC as saying that crude from South Ratqa would have an API gravity of 10-18 degrees with a 5% sulphur content.
The broader Ratqa asset was discovered in the late 1970s, but efforts to develop the field have been largely stifled.
Lengthy and ultimately fruitless efforts by successive governments to persuade MPs to allow KOC to enlist substantial IOC assistance were largely to blame for the delays, com- pounded by the notorious slowness of state decision-making across the board. The state upstream firm lacks experience of such challeng- ing production.
However, in early 2015 the UK’s Petrofac was
finally awarded a $4.2bn engineering, procure- ment & construction (EPC) contract to execute the first phase of the so-called Lower Fars Heavy Oil Project, calling for production of 60,000 bpd by this year.
On April 15, KOC said in a statement to Kuwait Nuews Agency (KUNA) that output was on track to start in August at 11,000 bpd and would be would be ramped up to capacity by January2020.
A multi-phase project aimed at pump- ing more than 200,000 bpd by 2030 has long been envisaged. However, the latest statement stretched out the timetable to 2040 and also covered the development of heavy oil at nearby Umm Niqa.
By 2026/27, KOC aims to double Ratqa’s output to 120,000 bpd, rising to 230,000 bpd by 2030/31, with production at Umm Niqa seen climbing first to 50,000 bpd and then to 80,000 bpd over the same period.
A fourth phase would then see Ratqa’s pro- duction lifted to 325,000 bpd, while the final phase envisages output from the two fields total- ling 430,000 bpd.
Apparently unashamed of the four-decade delay, a company official was quoted as noting that attempts had been ongoing to develop heavy oil at Ratqa since 1979.
It is doubtful whether KOC’s timetable will survive another two decades under seemingly chronic conditions of frequently changing gov- ernment and corporate management, coupled with political and bureaucratic logjams.
Week 47 27•November•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P9
