The third of three gas-oil separation plants in the Haradh area of Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar field came on stream in January, according to an article last month by Rick Snedeker in Saudi Aramco Week. GOSP-3 lies 105 miles south of al-Hasa and about 4 miles east of the town of Haradh.
Only 21 months after funding approval, said the article, oil and gas started to flow through GOSP-3 from several of 32 new wells and then through more than 160 km of oil and gas pipeline to the Abqaiq stabilization plant and ‘Uthmaniyah gas plant for further processing.
Once fully on-stream in second-quarter 2006, the facility will produce 300,000 b/d of Arabian Light crude oil and 140 MMscfd of associated natural gas. In second-half 2005, Aramco’s 1.6-bcfd Haradh gas plant reached full operation (OGJ Online, Oct. 11, 2005).
Initial start-up of GOSP-3 at the southern end of Ghawar beat by several months the Shaybah oil-field project, which until then had been the company’s benchmark for speedy completion, said the article. Aramco also says that GOSP-3 is the first plant in Aramco’s southern area oil operations to have completely automated well control and monitoring.
Construction contractor on the project was Saudi Techint Ltd., a local subsidiary of Techint International Construction Corp., Buenos Aires.
Hardware
The Haradh GOSP-3 consists of a high-pressure production trap 7.3 m in diameter, 50 m long, and weighing more than 413 tonnes. Gulf Engineering Co., Jubail, built the trap, which accumulates and separates wet crude, formation water, and associated gas.
Crude oil is transferred to a low-pressure production trap, a dehydrator, and desalter for further oil, gas, and saltwater separation. Water is collected for reinjection into the oil reservoir; gas is compressed for transport by pipeline.
Two 10,000 gpm, 4,000-hp motor-driven crude oil shipper pumps export dry crude by pipeline to the Abqaiq plant. A 1,140 hp motor-driven gas compressor and two 10,460 hp motor-driven gas compressors transport gas by pipeline to the ‘Uthmaniyah gas plant.
A third gas-turbine-driven water-injection pump was installed at Haradh GOSP-2, and a third seawater-supply motor-driven booster pump was installed at the Hawiyah central water-injection pump station.
In addition to about 160 km of new pipeline and extensions to transport crude and gas products from GOSP-3 to processing facilities in Abqaiq and ‘Uthmaniyah, more than 150 km of new pipeline and extensions to existing pipeline transport treated seawater and produced salt water for injection to maintain reservoir pressure. ✦
