Aquatech has been awarded a contract to provide water treatment services that will help to enhance the heavy oil extraction rate in the Amal Oil Fields in the Sultanate of Oman. Under terms of the contract, Aquatech will construct a 237 cubic meters/hr produced water softening plant for the Amal Steam Facilities Phase 1B in the Sultanate of Oman.
The Engineering-Procurement contractor for this project was the Worley Parsons group, through Worley Parsons Oman Engineering LLC. The facility is owned by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the premier hydrocarbon exploration and production company in the Sultanate of Oman.
In this project, Aquatech will supply a unique ion exchange technology based super softening plant for treating high TDS and high temperature produced water. The treated water will be fed to the steam generators for generating steam, which will be injected into the heavy oil wells to enhance the extraction rate of oil. The technology involved will include a nutshell filtering unit (NSK), followed by a primary strong acid cation unit and a polishing strong acid cation unit (SAC), and finally by a weak acid cation unit (WAC). The end product will have hardness reduced to less than 1 ppm, and will be used for process water.
The Amal Steam development is the largest single brownfield development in South Oman. Oman has experienced an increase in oil production over the past few years as a result of investing in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques and incentives to create new investment in oil exploration.
“Aquatech is recognized as a leader for our experience in the oil & gas industry and our expertise in treating challenging waters. The awarding of this contract reflects our excellent track record in successfully executing projects having high specification requirements, especially in the Middle East region, in similar applications. This contract further deepens our relationships in the region, and further demonstrates our capabilities. In so doing, it represents a significant development for Aquatech,” said Vikrant Sarin, Manager – Technical & Business Development (Industrial Solutions), Aquatech Eastern (FZE).
Aquatech has successfully executed a number of projects in the Middle East, including work for Shell and Occidental Mukhaizna. In Mukhaizna, the company provided similar softening plants and thermal units for different phases of the project. PDO, which was also a partner in the Mukhaizna project, cited the company’s international execution capabilities as a reason for awarding the project to Aquatech.
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