Salam Gas Processing Facility, Egypt

In November 2006 Petrofac was awarded a lump sum Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract worth $375m by the Khalda Petroleum Company (KPC) to build two new gas processing trains (SGT3 and SGT4) at the Salam facility in Egypt's Western desert.

KPC is a joint venture company between Apache Corporation and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC). The project is scheduled for completion before the end of 2008 and will also be using the local construction and fabrication company, Petrojet.

The scope of the project covers execution of project management, detailed design, procurement, construction, pre-commissioning, commissioning, start-up, performance testing and initial operations.

KPC is adding these new gas processing trains so that it can exploit the gas produced from its new discoveries at Qasr in the Khalda Concession. Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) also has interests in the project.

PROCESSING TRAINS

SGT3 and SGT4 will be gas conditioning trains encompassing gas separation, mercury removal, gas dehydration, TEG regeneration, gas dew-pointing, CO2 removal, gas export compression, condensate stabilisation, condensate storage and export system, recycle gas compression, flare system, hot oil system, power generation / distribution and all associated tie-ins with the existing plant.

The total capacity of the facility with the two new trains is expected to reach 710mmcf (million cubic feet) of gas and 66,000 barrels of condensate a day by late 2008. The project will also seek to use processing capacity at the Shell Obaiyed plant. Current gross production from Apache's Jurassic fields is 512mmcf of gas and 18,200 barrels of condensate per day, the limit of existing processing facilities. Apache's current net production from the fields is 224mmcf of gas and 8,000 barrels of liquid hydrocarbons a day.

The new processing capacity is sorely needed. Each of the new trains will have the capacity to process 100mmcf of sales gas and 14,000 barrels of sales condensate a day. With the potential of the Qasr discovery there may need to be two more gas processing trains by 2012.

APACHE RESERVES IN THE QASR FIELD

Apache Corporation have determined that the Egyptian Qasr-2X well has significant reserves in 2003 tests the well flowed 34.5mmcf of natural gas and 1,320 barrels of condensate a day from perforations between 12,908ft and 13,084ft in the Jurassic Lower Safa reservoir.

A production test of the Lower Safa reservoir at the base of the 707ft gross hydrocarbon column was conducted from 70ft of perforations between 13,444ft and 13,514ft through a 1in choke with 2,014lb/in² (psi) of flowing wellhead pressure. G. Steven Farris, Apache president and chief executive officer, said: "We found more than we were looking for in the Qasr-2X."

The appraisal well, which is 1.5 miles southwest of the Qasr-1X, is 31ft structurally higher with an additional 200 net feet of pay. The Qasr discovery and appraisal wells have added significantly to the hydrocarbon potential of Egypt's Western Desert. To fully delineate the 13,000ac, seismically-defined structure, three additional appraisal wells were drilled in 2004 and one was spudded prior to 2005.

The new field is located on the Khalda Concession, which Apache operates with a 100% contractor interest. The Qasr-1X discovery has flowed 51.8mmcf of gas and 2,688 barrels of condensate a day from 269ft of perforations in two intervals from the Lower Safa formation. The Qasr-1X is flowing approximately 10mmcf of gas and 400 barrels of condensate a day at 4,135psi flowing tubing pressure on a 2/64in choke. The gas is delivered to Apache's Salam gas plant via a new 6in early production sales line.

Based on the results of the two new wells, Apache estimates reserve potential is now in the range of one trillion to three trillion cubic feet of gas and 20 million to 70 million barrels of condensate. An additional 62ft of pay was logged at the shallower depths of the Qasr-2X in the AEB sands; these sands produce oil in the Ozoris Field approximately 2.4 miles northeast of the Qasr-2X well.

Apache plans to spud the Qasr-7X well, 215ft south of the Qasr-2X, before year end to exploit the AEB-3E and AEB-3D sands. Apache's Salam gas plant is located approximately 17 miles from the discovery and so the construction of a new pipeline to transfer the gas is a definite possibility.