Abu Dhabi awards $9 billion in gas project contracts
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 16 -- Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd. (Gasco) has awarded more than $9 billion in lump-sum turnkey contracts for engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning of its integrated gas development project at Ruwais and Habshan.
Recipients of the contracts include a joint venture of JGC of Japan and Tecnimont of Italy (for $4.7 billion), Hyundai Engineering & Construction of South Korea ($1.7 billion), a joint venture of Petrofac of UAE and GS Engineering of South Korea ($2.1 billion), and CB&I of the US ($533 million).
Elements of the contract are:
-- Habshan 5 process plant: JGC and Tecnimont.
-- Habshan 5 utilities and off sites: Hyundai.
-- Ruwais fourth NGL train: Petrofac of UAE and GS Engineering.
-- Ruwais storage tanks: CB&I.
Ruwais complex
The Ruwais fractionation plant, part of the Ruwais Industrial Complex and the Abu Dhabi onshore hydrocarbon chain, receives feedstock from Gasco’s NGL extraction plants at Asab, Bu Hasa, Habshan, and Bab, as well as LPG from the neighboring Takreer refinery (Abu Dhabi Refinery Co.).
The plant has two parallel fractionation trains that can process 7.8 million tonnes/year (tpy) of NGL, storage facilities, and a loading jetty to export propane, butane and paraffinic naphtha.
The two trains send ethane to the neighboring Bourouge petrochemical plant to produce ethylene. The other three products are stored at Ruwais before transfer via the Gasco Ruwais jetty to gas carriers or via the refinery jetty to paraffinic naphtha tankers for markets worldwide.
Construction has been under way since 2005 on a third NGL train at Ruwais to handle 8.9 million tpy of additional NGL produced from Habshan 3, Asab 2, and other projects and to produce about 6,400 tonnes/day (tpd) more of raw ethane for Rouge’s petrochemical plant, 6,000 tpd each of propane and butane, and 5,800 tpd more of paraffinic naphtha products.
The project also involves construction of new product storage. Gasco awarded the EPC contract for the third train to M/S Snamprogetti in March 2005; facilities are in final stages of construction and precommissioning in advance of imminent start-up.
IGD project
The IGD projects are scheduled for completion by third-quarter 2013.
At Habshan, the IGD project will be built at a new location entitled “Habshan 5.” There will be four gas processing trains with total processing capacity of 2 bcfd. Of this, 1 bcfd will be transported from offshore Umm Shaif field via Das Island to enable Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co. to meet its planned increase in oil production.
The remaining 1 bcfd will consist of a mix of associated gas from increased oil production by Abu Dhabi Co. for Onshore Oil Operations of 1.8 million b/d from 1.4 million b/d and sour nonassociated gases from Habshan gas fields.
The Habshan 5 complex will also have four new sulfur-recovery units with recovery efficiency up to 99.9%. Gasco claims this capability will reduce emission of toxic gases to meet the environment standards of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.
After commissioning of these facilities, Habshan 5 will produce 900 MMscfd of sales gas, 12,000 tpd of NGL, and 5,000 tpd of liquid sulfur.
While the additional products (C3, C4, C5+, and sulfur) will be exported, ethane will be transported to the nearby petrochemical complex for feedstock.
Gasco said the IGD project, in addition to providing sale gas to the consumers in the Emirate, will also provide a permanent link between offshore and onshore facilities of the ADNOC Group of companies to “provide operational flexibility for oil and gas production.”