ABB has been selected by KOC to provide a control and data acquisition solution for a new 140 km gas pipeline and to connect a new booster station to KOC’s telemetry system.
ABB said that its supervisory control and data acquisition solution (SCADA) is enabling Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to monitor, control and track the production, transfer and flaring of gas and condensate throughout its entire production assets, including 2,000 km of pipelines, 21 gathering centres and the world’s second largest oilfield, Burgan.
The company claims that the solution has enabled KOC to improve the efficiency and management of its vast network of surface production assets in Kuwait by providing real-time data on the volume of natural gas and condensate produced, and its transfer between the oil and gas fields and Kuwait’s three refineries.
Known as the ‘Telemetry for gas and condensate networks project,’ the solution is the cornerstone of one of KOC’s most pressing strategic targets: to reduce gas flaring from an average of 11.3% in 2006-07 to 1% in 2010-11. The resultant gain in gas revenues and reduction in CO2 emissions will be substantial, ABB said in a statement.
Most of Kuwait’s gas and condensate is a by-product of oil production. As Kuwait is the world’s fourth largest producer of crude oil and has the world’s second largest oilfield (Burgan), KOC’s gas and condensate networks are correspondingly large.
These networks extend across much of the country and include 2,000 km of pipelines, 21 gathering centres where the gas and condensate is separated from the oil, four gas booster stations where the gas is treated and compressed, and 36 unmanned field stations.
Since 2009 the gas and condensate networks have been equipped with an ABB SCADA system that controls each asset in the network and measures the volume of gas and condensate as it flows through the system to the refineries.
The solution controls vital parameters like flow, pressure and temperature at critical points in the networks. It detects leaks, measures flaring and calculates the revenue loss; and it enables gas to be diverted from one network to another, and pipelines to be shut down by remote.
Its most important function is to provide KOC management with real-time information on the performance of its assets by providing reports, history sheets, critical messages and alarms – all of which maximises efficiency by tracking product flows and measuring leaks and flaring.
In May, ABB secured US$166.6 million contract to construct a 123 km 30 inch pipeline with a capacity of 315 mbopd. The new pipeline which will transport crude oil from North Kuwait to the Central Mixing Manifold and North Tank Farm in Ahmad will be equipped with advanced control, monitoring and metering systems.
