10 July 2016
Muscat - Oman's oil and gas industry posted a sizable 28.6 per cent growth in the volume of natural gas channelised towards oilfield re-injection purposes last year -- a process being increasingly deployed by oil producers to boost mainly black oil output from depleting reservoirs. An estimated 3.707 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas was utilized for re-injection last year, up from 2.882 bcm a year earlier -- underscoring the growing usage of natural gas in pressurizing reservoirs to aid the flow of crude.

The re-injected volumes accounted for around 11.2 per cent of total non-associated gas production, estimated at around 32.800 bcm, recorded last year.  This compares with a 9.3 per cent share of non-associated volumes utilized for re-injection purposes in 2014. Output of associated and non-association natural gas totalled 39.806 bcm in 2015, up 5.6 per cent from the previous year's tally of 37.687 bcm a year earlier, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) said, citing figures furnished by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NSCI).  Much of this aggregate volume was produced by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), which accounts for almost all of the Sultanate's gas output.

Of this aggregate volume, 22.036 bcm (55.3 per cent of the total) was consumed by the petrochemical and industrial sector as fuel and feedstock.  The uptake of gas by this segment was 4.1 per cent higher in 2015 versus figures for 2014. Gas volumes earmarked as fuel for power plants across the Sultanate climbed 4.1 per cent to 8.324 bcm last year, up from 7.998 bcm in 2014, the Central Bank report said.  Volumes consumed by industrial parks administered by the Public Authority for Industrial Estates (PEIE) were estimated at 0.673 bcm last year. Significantly, flared gas volumes dipped 10.5 per cent to 1.426 bcm last year, down from 1.593 bcm in 2014.

© Oman Daily Observer 2016