Major expansion of Oman Gas Company gas transportation network underway

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MUSCAT -- Oman Gas Company (OGC)Oman Gas Company (OGC) has embarked on a significant expansion of its gas transportation infrastructure to cater to the requirements of the Sultanate's rapidly growing oil and gas, industrial and power generation sectors. The expansion is being carried out through a series of projects presently under way in different areas of the Sultanate, the state-owned company announced in its 2008 Annual Report issued here yesterday. The upgrade comes on top of a significant augmentation of the company's gas transportation infrastructure capacity last year.

Dr Mohammed bin Hamed al Rumhy, Minister of Oil and Gas and Chairman of OGCOGC, hailed the company's achievements as reflective of its "eventful journey" towards loftier corporate aspirations. "Starting as a natural gas transmission caretaker, (OGCOGC) is today heading towards being an integrated energy company along the natural gas value chain. Established as a gas transmission company in 2000, it grew organically over the years by building a large network of natural gas pipelines and gas compression and supply facilities covering the majority of the country," Dr Al Rumhy stated in the Chairman's Message.

Yousuf bin Mohammed al Ojaili, CEO, described 2008 as another successful year for OGCOGC. "We have met most of our key targets: gas availability, HSE, integrity and Omanisation. Excellent gas availability was achieved with only very few hours of gas interruption to very few customers. Our number of consumer gas delivery points increased to 32, among which 9 are major power and desalination plants and 5 are petrochemical or heavy industries... OGCOGC has exceeded its Omanisation target and achieved 90 per cent at year's end."

Several new projects will further add to OGCOGC's gas transportation network during 2009 and beyond. Key among these initiatives is a project involving the installation of four compressor trains at Fahud, which will boost the overall flow and pressure regimes of the gas network in the wake of the rapid increase in gas transportation capacity. In the Port of Sohar area, home to a raft of multi-billion dollar industrial schemes, OGCOGC is preparing to award contracts for new gas supply lines to Vale's iron ore pelletising project, as well as to downstream aluminium industries within the industrial estate nearly. Similar supply streams were completed last year to Sharq Steel, Sohar AluminiumSohar Aluminium and Aromatics OmanAromatics Oman in Sohar, as well as the SMN Barka power projectSMN Barka power project, and the Octal petrochemicals plant in Salalah.

Also nearing completion is a new 30km 20-inch loop line from Murayrat to the Al Ghubrah power plant in Muscat. This line will ensure uninterrupted supplies to Al Ghubrah, supplementing the existing line which suffered a rupture during the adverse weather conditions of June 2007. In the Nimr area, OGCOGC is investing in a new compressor station to augment gas supplies to Salalah. A contract was also awarded late last year for the construction of pipeline extensions and gas supply stations to serve the Salalah methanol scheme and an independent power and water project planned at Taqah in Dhofar Governorate. These supply projects are due to be completed in phases by early 2010.

Work is ongoing on a 252-km 32-inch cross country pipeline that runs from Saih Rawl in central Oman to Mukhaizna where it will supply Occidental with gas for its Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) operations. Also envisaged are upgrades to gas supply stations and advanced metering facilities at the Rusayl, Wadi Jizzi and Al Ghubrah power stations. The project will also contribute to enhanced processing capacity at the Rusayl power plant. A key highlight of OGCOGC's achievements last year was the successful commissioning of three compressor trains at Buraimi in October, enabling gas imports into Oman via the Dolphin network.

The project, which channels an average of 5.6 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of Qatari gas per day, also underlines OGCOGC's capabilities in developing its midstream project management and operations experience, said Al Ojaili. OGCOGC delivered a total of 7.9 billion cubic metres (BCM) of gas via its huge network in 2008, representing an increase of 7 per cent over 2007 volumes. Average gas demand was estimated at 21.7 million Sm3 per day, with supplies peaking at 27.5 million Sm3 in September 2008.

By Conrad Prabhu

© Oman Daily Observer 2009