Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) – the largest producer of oil and gas in Oman, and GlassPoint Solar – a global provider of solar steam generators for enhanced oil recovery, completed the largest solar EOR project in the Middle East in December 2012. The project, which aims to prove solar can reliably fuel thermal EOR operations and reduce the need to burn natural gas, is generating up to 50 tonnes of emission free steam per day and is creating cost savings across the operation.
“The system is now in daily operation generating an average of 50 tons of emissions-free steam per day. The facility passed its first performance acceptance test in early 2013, exceeding contracted steam output by 10%. The project serves as a performance and operational baseline for potential large-scale solar steam generation projects in Oman and throughout the Gulf region,” said MacGregor.
Prior to launching the solar EOR project in Oman, which was officially commissioned in May 2013, GlassPoint was known for unveiling the world’s first commercial solar enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project with Berry Petroleum Company in California. Comparing the project in Oman to the Berry Petroleum project, Rod MacGregor, president and CEO at GlassPoint said that the 7MWth project with PDO is more than 27 times larger than the Berry Petroleum project and is the first project of its kind in the Middle East.
Some of the benefits of this project include: reduction in fuel costs, maximisation of natural gas value, recovery of more oil, and local economic development.
“GlassPoint’s technology provides steam for thermal EOR, enabling PDO to maintain oil production and save valuable natural gas resources. More broadly, GlassPoint’s EOR solution provides a powerful economic stimulus that is poised to create thousands of jobs across Oman. By replacing natural gas with solar energy for steam generation, Oman can redirect scarce natural gas resources to the private sector for use in industrial development and job creation. Redirecting 80 per cent of current gas resources used for EOR to private industry could fuel up to 280,000 new jobs throughout the Sultanate,” said MacGregor.
One of the challenges of the project that MacGregor discussed was the complexity of developing a cost-effective solar steam generator that could be easily integrated into PDO’s existing oilfield operations. Additionally, the solar field must endure unique desert conditions, prone to dust storms and high winds. The location of the PDO project faces soiling rates 30 times higher than a typical California oil field, and average wind speeds three times greater than California.
By overcoming these challenges, GlassPoint has created a predictable project roadmap that is executable and cost competitive.
“The Enclosed Trough was designed from the ground up to deliver significant cost reductions in materials, construction and operations over older solar energy solutions. As a result, we’re able to deliver the lowest cost solar steam to replace natural gas typically burned for EOR. Since coming online, the project has reached 99.8 per cent uptime and is easy to operate and maintain in rigorous oilfield conditions. The glasshouse enclosure has proven to successfully reduce mirror soiling by more than 95 per cent—even during dust storms. The once-through design allows the use of standard oilfield feed-water and deploys the exact same components as traditional gas-fired steam generators,” said MacGregor. “We are very proud that the project was completed on time and on budget with zero lost time injuries. With the success of the pilot, GlassPoint is now exploring possibilities for large-scale projects throughout the region. Oman is an ideal location for solar EOR due to its bountiful sunshine and limited access to natural gas.”
According to GlassPoint, gas used in oil production accounts for more than 24% of Oman’s total natural gas consumption and continues to rapidly increase. In the first half of 2013 alone, gas use in Oman oilfields jumped more than 11%. GlassPoint can help the country by not only delivering low-cost steam for oil production, but also by generating significant in-country value by reducing the amount of natural gas burned for EOR.
