MUSCAT -- Elco International Engineering Co LLC, a specialist Omani engineering fabrication firm, has executed a contract to fabricate and supply six huge pressure vessels for the Mukhaizna enhanced oil recovery project in central Oman. The giant drums, which are also referred to as Free Water Knockout Vessels (FWKO), are each 15 metres long and weigh 47 tonnes apiece. They will be transported by special trailers for installation at Occidental's Early Thermal Facilities Project and Central Processing Facility at Mukhaizna.
Occidental Mukhaizna LLC, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, is the operator of the Mukhaizna (Block 53) field billed as one of the largest oilfields in the Sultanate. The company, along with its partners, plans to invest around $3 billion in implementing a large-scale steam flood to increase production to approximately 150,000 barrels per day within the next few years and to recover approximately 1 billion barrels of oil over the life of the project.
According to Elco officials, the FWKO vessels are among the largest of their kind to be fabricated locally. The FWKOs will be an integral part of a larger processing system that will separate water from the heavy oil produced from Mukhaizna. The Ghala-based firm is also providing a range of other fabrication and erection services to oil and gas contractors involved in the development of various aspects of the Mukhaizna project.
It has been contracted to erect three huge glass-lined vessels at one of the Mukhaizna sites. The 17-metre high tanks, which boast a similar diameter, were fabricated in the Czech Republic. Other fabrication contracts undertaken by the company include debottlenecking and skim tanks, as well as other steel structures. Elco is also executing a contract on behalf of KEMPE Australia for the supply of around 200 tonnes of fabricated steel destined for the Sohar Aluminium smelter project.
By Conrad Prabhu
© Oman Daily Observer 2007
