Saudi Aramco is expected to partially start-up its new Wasit gas plant in Q1 2015, industry sources said
Wasit is expected to be one of the largest gas plants ever built by Saudi Aramco and will not be linked to oilwells. The company said that the plant will process 73.6mn cu/m per day of non-associated gas from offshore fields Hasbah and Arabiyah.
The plant, situated north of Jubail, is expected to supply 49.5mn cu/m per day of sales gas and could potentially produce up to 86.3mn cu/m per day to meet peak summer demand.
“It will be partially in operation in Q1 next year officially the project should be fully up and running mid-2015 but I think the more realistic schedule is sometime in 2016,” one source familiar with the matter said.
In 2012 industry sources had told Reuters that Wasit was expected to be delayed by at least one year because the gas coming from fields offshore had higher sulfur content than expected. The plant was due to be completed in 2014.
Labour logistics and subcontractor issues have also delayed a natural gas liquids (NGL) project at Shaybah located in the kingdom’s southern Empty Quarter — a venture designed to help boost petrochemical feedstock, another source added.
Shaybah NGL is expected to process 67.9mn cu/m per day of low-sulphur sweet gas from the Shaybah oilfield and send 275,000 bpd of NGLs to a processing plant in Juaymah.
According to Saudi Aramco, Wasit and the ongoing Karan gas project, operating since 2012, are likely to boost Saudi Arabia’s natural gas output by an estimated 40 per cent.
