Sharjah National Oil Corporation (SNOC) announced on Tuesday that it has awarded a $40-million contract for the Moveyeid Gas Storage Surface Facility Project to Petrofac Facilities Management International.

The state-owned company said in a statement that the project comprises a new high-pressure compressor facility, a high-pressure pipeline and flow lines to four existing wells in Moveyeid Field. Additional project scope also includes drilling horizontal legs in existing wells, and potentially drilling new wells in 2023.

The statement said a gas storage pilot test has been in progress since 2017 with the purpose to prove the concept of the project and to optimise the final project design. SNOC plans to implement the project in phases, with the surface facilities to be commissioned by the end of 2020 and drilling in 2023.

SNOC will also continue to evaluate the need for expanding the storage and delivery capacity of the project beyond 2023, the statement added.

The statement quoted SNOC CEO Hatem Al Mosa as saying gas storage was on the Sajaa Asset agenda since 2003 since the company owns the ideal reservoir for such a project in terms of size, proximity to pipeline infrastructure, connectivity and composition. However, the historic chronic shortage of gas to provide the cushion gas prevented the project from becoming a reality at that time, he noted.

“The [Moveyeid] project will allow us to store excess gas in the winter to satisfy the summer peak demand. It will also provide a readily available strategic reserve to respond to unexpected operational or market issues where connectivity and proximity become most critical,” he explained.

Earlier this year, SNOC and its partner Eni, has announced a successful new discovery of natural gas and condensate onshore in Sharjah. The discovery, named ‘Mahani’, comes within the first year of the partnership and represents the first onshore discovery of gas in the Emirate since the early 1980s.

(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)

( anoop.menon@refinitiv.com )

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