Muscat - A high-level delegation from Majlis A'Shura has commended the work done by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) at the Harweel enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project in southern Oman.
Ten members of the Economic and Financial Committee toured the huge installation on March 6 on a fact-finding mission to gauge progress at the plant, which is using miscible gas injection to extract heavy oil.
The project is one of the most technically demanding in the world and has suffered delays, in large part due to increased safety measures, underestimated construction and commissioning man-hour requirements, and equipment quality issues, a press release said on Monday.
However, Sheikh Suleyum al Hikmani, the committee chairman, praised the teamwork and expertise to ensure that the project is now on track. He said, "Harweel is a complex project with many challenges and there have been many technical problems and equipment quality issues which needed to be addressed.
"After visiting the installation, we are satisfied that PDO staff and contractors have delivered a world-scale project that is now able to maximise production and ultimate recovery for the benefit of the nation."
Harweel is PDO's first full-scale miscible gas EOR project, and a fully sour gas (hydrogen sulphide) production plant. It is envisaged that it will develop in excess of 160mn barrels of oil reserves, substantially more than originally forecast, and first-year production is well ahead of plan at around 30,000 barrels per day.
The high-pressure, salt-encased reservoirs that are being tapped are around 540mn years old and are among the oldest in the world. They are spread over a vast area of 250km2 with wells linked to an extensive network of pipelines and trunklines stretching 150km.
The Majlis delegation was accompanied by Raoul Restucci, PDO managing director and Suleiman al Tobi, oil director, south, at PDO, on its two-day visit.
Restucci said, "The scale, complexity and health, safety and environmental aspects of Harweel have been huge challenges for us. Due to a concerted engineering, construction, commissioning and operations effort, we have been able to bring the plant into phased operation. There have been a number of process issues, but we have managed to devise innovative solutions."
© Muscat Daily 2014
