Steve Pollitt, business development director of Sulphur Technology at global giant Worley Parsons on the challenges and local opportunities presented by sour oil and gas field projects
What are the principal challenges associated with dealing with sour oil and gas?
POLLITT: The major challenge is in dealing with very large volumes of sour gas which may contain relatively low levels of sulphur. WorleyParsons has wide experience in the design of gas processing and sulphur removal plant accumulated in over 60 years. Our plants are able to meet the increasingly tight environmental standards while maintaining our reputation for robust design and optimum capital cost.
How important are sour deposits in terms of meeting future energy needs?
New gas fields are becoming increasing sour and difficult to process but must now must be exploited to meet the increasing world energy demands. Our specific experience of highly sour gas covers a number of regions, notably the Middle East and Kazakhstan where we have designed some of the biggest sulphur units ever built.
What services are particularly relevant for customers here?
WorleyParsons has unrivalled experience in gas processing and sulphur removal technology licensing. In addition WorleyParsons is a major international contractor with large offices in all the countries of the Middle East – with the capability of working in all project phases – from feasibility studies through to detailed engineering, procurement and construction management.
We have designed some of the largest sour oil and gas plants in the world using our proven technologies and can provide the optimum design solution for sour oil and gas processing – from the wellhead through oil and gas conditioning and including the design of bulk sulphur handling and dispatch facilities.
What advantages do your have over your competitors?
WorleyParsons sulphur removal technologies cover the full of available technologies including conventional Claus plants, oxygen enriched Claus, tail gas treating, acid gas enrichment, SmartSulf technology, sulphur degassing, Selectox technology for gas with low levels of H2S and bulk sulphur handling facilities.
Our technologies are able to meet the most stringent environmental standards A client with a sour oil or gas processing problem only need come to WorleyParsons for the delivery of the complete solution based on our unrivalled experience gained in over 600 plant designs.
Have you been successful in working with clients in the Middle East on sour oil or gas projects in the past?
WorleyParsons is working in all the countries of the Middle East on a range of sour oil and gas projects. Some of our recent gas processing and sulpur removal projects have been performed for Gasco (Habshan and Ruwais), KNPC, Equate, Saudi Aramco, Qatar Petroleum, Petroleum Development Oman.
Our work in sour oil and gas processing covers all the world’s major hydrocarbon producing regions but our major activities are still in the Middle East with significant projects in Russia, Kazakhstan, USA, Europe and India.
The Middle East will remain a major part of our business into the forseeable future.
Sulphur Project Case Study
Project: HABSHAN 2, GASCO
Country: United Arab Emirates
The Habshan gas complex has a processing capacity of 4,750 BSCFD. It produces NGL (18,000 tonnes per day), condensate (270,000 barrels per day), and residue gas (3.7 BSCFD) which supplies the sales gas network (1.3 BSCFD) as well as the re-injection system (2.4 BSCFD) into the various reservoirs.
Habshan gas complex also produces about 4,500 tonnes per day of liquid sulphur as a by-product of acid gas processing. Liquid sulphur is trucked to GASCO Ruwais facilities where it is granulated and exported.
“WorleyParsons worked closely with GASCO to develop the optimum processing scheme before producing the basic engineering design package for the sulphur recovery and acid gas treating units at Habshan,” says Pollitt. The Habshan facility will comprise four trains producing a total of 5,200 tonnes of sulphur per day, making it the largest sulphur recovery plant designed by WorleyParsons.
