Adnoc completes Shah gas field expansion

Adnoc

Adnoc Sour Gas has finished the expansion of the Shah gas field, according to sources in a story by oil and gas publication MEES.

The gas field, close to the Saudi border, now has a capacity of 1.45 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day (cfd), making it one of the largest ultra-sour developments in the world

Adnoc Sour Gas is a joint venture between Adnoc and US-based Occidental Petroleum Corporation. Adnoc holds a 60 percent stake, while Occidental Petroleum has the remaining 40 percent.

Sour gas – commonly associated with oil and gas drilling – refers to any gas that contains significant amounts of hydrogen sulphide (which smells similar to that of rotten egg, hence the term “sour”).

According to Adnoc’s website, the Shah gas field includes gas processing facilities and a sulphur granulation plant that features four of the largest sulphur recovery units in the world.

Adnoc Sour Gas processes more than one billion cfd of ultra-sour gas from a single gas plant, it said, adding the company operates with an integrated single-field approach that covers upstream, midstream and downstream activities.

Italy’s Saipem was awarded a $510 million contract in 2021 to expand the facility from 1.3 billion cfd by mid-year, Mees reported.

In 2011, Occidental Petroleum won a contract to develop the Shah gas project in a deal expected to be worth $10 billion, Reuters reported citing sources.