Bahrain National Gas Expansion Co. (BNGEC), a subsidiary of the National Oil & Gas Authority (NOGA) of Bahrain’s business development and investment arm NOGA Holding Co. (Nogaholding), has let a contract to an affiliate of JGC Corp., Yokohama, Japan, to build additional gas pipelines and storage tanks as part of a capacity expansion under way at BNGEC’s and Bahrain National Gas Co.'s (Banagas) shared gas processing project in Bahrain oil field, south of Awali.
As part of the $98.7-million, lump-sum turnkey contract, JGC Gulf International Co. Ltd. will provide engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) services for feed and product-gas transfer pipelines, as well as product-gas storage tanks at Sitra, to complement the addition of a third gas processing train (CGP-III) now under construction, JGC and NOGA said in separate releases.
According to another release from the Bahrain Ministry of Information Affairs’ news agency, JGC’s scope of work on the pipeline and storage expansion is to include the following:
• Installation of a pipeline system to transport gas from seven existing compressor stations to the CGP-III.
• Installation of a pipeline system to return residue gas for reinjection.
• Installation of a 21-km butane pipeline to Sitra.
• Modifications to existing storage installations at Sitra to accommodate increased production volumes from CGP-III.
• Installation of a 200,000-bbl propane storage tank.
• Installation of a 100,000-bbl butane storage tank.
Scheduled for mechanical completion in September 2018, the pipeline and storage expansion is due for startup in October 2018, JGC and NOGA said.
This latest contract follows Banagas’ $355-million lump-sum turnkey contract award to JGC in January for delivery of engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of the CGP-III plant, which will have the capacity to process 350 MMcfd of associated dry gas entrained in state-run Tatweer Petroleum Co.'s increased oil production from Bahrain field, according to separate releases from NOGA and JGC between Jan. 27-28.
Equipped to produce LPG and naphtha using reinjection pressure and excess gas, the plant, once completed, will increase overall capacity at the Banagas-BNGEC gas processing project to more than 650 million MMcfd, NOGA said.
Banagas currently operates two gas processing trains with a combined capacity of about 300 MMcfd at the site, according to the company’s web site.
Due for startup in September 2018, the CGP-III is one in a series of strategic projects aimed at securing ongoing economic growth and raising the standard of living for the people of Bahrain, NOGA said.
NOGA strategic projects
According to its 2015 annual report, NOGA launched several projects as part of its strategy to improve its Bahraini operations, including:
• The $600-million Bahrain floating LNG terminal project, which will be developed on a build-own-operate-transfer basis as joint venture between NOGA Holding (30%) and a consortium of Teekay LNG Partners LP, Samsung C&T Corp., and Gulf Investment Corp. (70%, combined). Designed to handle and process gas imports into Bahrain, the project will be located off the country’s northeast coast and include: a floating storage unit (FSU); an offshore LNG-receiving jetty, breakwater, and regasification platform; subsea gas pipelines from the platform to shore; an onshore gas-receiving facility; and an onshore nitrogen-production plant. To be equipped with an initial capacity of 400 MMcfd but expandable to 800 MMcfd, the terminal will be owned and operated under a 20-year agreement beginning in third-quarter 2018.
• A $350-million, 115-km (41-42 km, subsea; 73-74 km, onshore) oil pipeline from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain to help meet Bahrain’s rising crude demand following Bahrain Petroleum Co.'s (Bapco) planned expansion and upgrade of its 267,000-b/d refinery at Sitra, on Bahrain’s eastern coast (OGJ Online, Oct. 9, 2014).
• The $100-million gas dehydration plant at Tatweer Petroleum’s Bahrain field. To be built by Petrofac, the new unit is intended to help meet Bahrain’s rising domestic demand for gas.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].