Abu Dhabi’s Shah Field Central To Adnoc’s Gas Expansion Strategy

1 Mar 2019 Issue: 62 / 09 By: Jamie Ingram

Operated by Adnoc Sour Gas, the ultra-sour Shah gas field is an integral part of Abu Dhabi’s current and future gas plans. Its successful development has given Adnoc the confidence to place sour gas at the heart of its new integrated gas strategy.

Nestled among the remote sand dunes of the empty quarter in southern Abu Dhabi lies one of the emirate’s most critical oil and gas projects – the ultra-sour Shah gas field. One of the UAE’s most complex upstream developments, the Shah field produces around 10% of the country’s gas output. Techniques honed here are integral to the country’s gas expansion plans.

The field is developed by Adnoc Sour Gas, a 60:40 partnership between state firm Adnoc and US firm Occidental (Oxy) that was formally known as Al Hosn. Debottlenecking has expanded the capacity of the two-train processing facilities on site from 1bn cfd to 1.3bn cfd (MEES, 9 November 2018). Due to the ultra-sour nature of the gas, around 25% hydrogen sulphide and 10% CO2, this results in just 650mn cfd of useable sales gas. Sales gas production rose above 600mn cfd for the first time in the second half of 2018 (see chart). (CONTINUED - 1000 WORDS)