Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) celebrated the official inauguration of Saih Rawl Depletion Compression project under the auspices of His Highness Sayyid Mansour bin Majid al Said, Adviser to the Minister of Heritage and Culture, and in the presence of several government officials.
Saih Rawl is the largest gas field in the country. It was discovered in 1991 and after almost 20 years of production the reservoir pressure was beginning to decline. The depletion compression project managed to boost inlet pressure from 36 bar to 96 bar and the new plant has a capacity to handle 48 million standard cubic metres of gas per day.
Beside the compression plant, a new power station with a total capacity of 120 megawatts was constructed as part of the project to cater for the increased power demand. Nasser bin Khamis al Jashmi, Under-Secretary of the Oil and Gas Ministry, said the station will uplift the pressure of the field which was the main reason for the decrease in production. The station has cost $359 million.
Speaking on the occasion, Sulaiman bin Mohammed al Manthri, Foreign Affairs and Liaison Manager at PDO, said that PDO has a pioneering role in oil and gas exploration and production in the Sultanate and the region. Gas and condensates from the Saih Rawl field are collected and processed at Saih Rawl Central Processing Plant where the depletion compression is located. The treated gas is then sent to key customers such as Oman Liquefied Natural Gas (OLNG), Qalhat LNG, power stations and desalination units, Oman India Fertilizer Company, Sur Light Industrial Area and South Oman Gas Line via a pipeline known as the Interconnector.
PDO’s Managing Director Raoul Restucci commended the effort made by the company and contractor staff in executing the project safely. “This project is testament to the collective commitment, skills and expertise of so many people committed to sustaining the remarkable development of this nation”. In keeping with its social responsibility commitment PDO has sponsored several projects in the vicinity that serve the community including health centres, a school and expansion of a water plants.