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Shell plans Major Expansion at BGC

By John Lee.

Having sold its stake in the West Qurna 1 project to Japan’s Itochu, Shell is now said to be “fully committed” to the giant Basra Gas Company (BGC), which captures gas from Iraq’s southern oilfields.

Frits Klap, managing director of BGC, told Reuters that processing capacity has more than tripled to 938 million standard cubic feet (scf) per day since operations started in 2013, and further expansion is planned:

“We are going to go for something called BNGL, or Basra NGL (natural gas liquids) expansion, which really is going to take us from 1 bcf to 1.4 bcf through two trains, each of 200 million scf per day.”

Shell has a 44-percent stake in the $17-billion, 25-year project, with Iraq having 51 percent, and Japan’s Mitsubishi 5 percent.

More here.

(Source: Reuters)

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Baker Hughes to harness Flare Gas at Gharraf & Nassiriya

By John Lee.

Baker Hughes has signed a contract to harness 200 MMcf/d of natural gas from Iraq’s Nassiriya and Gharraf oil fields.

The Nassiriya field is operated by the state-run Dhi Qar Oil Company (DQOC) and currently producing around 70,000 barrels per day of crude oil, with a target of 150,000 bpd.

Gharraf is operated by Petronas and is producing around 88,000 bpd with a plateau production target of 250,000 bpd.

(Sources: Minister of Oil, Platts)

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Iraq to launch Tender for Gas Contracts by end-June

By Padraig O’Hannelly.

Iraq’s Council of Ministers has resolved that the Ministry of Oil shall implement the process for awarding Supplemental Natural Gas Processing Contracts (SNGPCs) for the processing of associated gas to qualified investors through a competitive and transparent bidding process that adheres to best international standards.

The SNGPCs will provide that investors will construct facilities for the processing of gas, and will also allow the investors to build additional capacity and enter into gas sale and purchase agreements.

Subject to the availability of raw gas as determined at the time by the Ministry of Oil and certified to the Council of Ministers, an international public tender for the award of SNGPC contracts will be launched by the Ministry of Oil no later than 30 June, 2018.

Then, subject to the successful conclusion of the international public tender, any resulting SNGPC contracts shall be awarded no later than 31 October 2018.

The SNGPCs are to be signed by November 30, 2018.

Detailed documents can be downloaded here.

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Iraq signs Memorandum of Cooperation with Kuwaiti Company

By John Lee.

Iraq’s Oil Ministry has signed a a memorandum of cooperation with the Kuwait-based company Al-Arfaj, with a view to capturing and using associated gas from Iraq’s oil fields.

Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi [Allibi, Luiebi] ending gas flaring and using the gas for petrochemical production was a priority for the Ministry.

According to a statement from the Ministry:

“The memorandum included the formation of a coordination committee between the two sides to exchange the information about the projects in the zone and the world. The memorandum included also the desire of the company to participate in the flare gas investment project and the methanol production, as well as to invite the ministry of oil to contribute in the investment of the project of building an oil refinery in India with a petrochemicals complex.”

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

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US Firm to Harvest Flare Gas at Nahr Bin Umar

By John Lee.

Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi [Allibi, Luiebi] has announced an agreement with an American company to invest in the flare gas associated with the Nahr Bin Umar oil field in Basra governorate.

The Ministry names the company as “Oren”, but Iraq Oil Report identifies it as the Houston-based Orion Gas Processors.

A memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed between the company and the Basrah Gas Company (BGC) in the coming days.

Orion says its “innovative patented and patent-pending technologies extract hydrocarbons from underutilized gas streams, creating stable liquids that may be blended into the oil stream. High extraction yields combined with knowledge-based blending creates superior economics for oil producers over competing technologies.”

According to the Ministry, the field produces about 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd), and 25 MSCF of gas per day.

(Source: Oil Ministry, Iraq Oil Report)

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Algeria’s Sonatrach to Invest in Iraq

By John Lee.

Sonatrach, the state-owned Algerian energy company, is to form a joint venture with Iraq to cooperate in the harvesting of associated flare gas.

The will be used for power generation, and in the production of petrochemicals and fertilizers.

The deal was agreed during a visit by Algerian Energy Minister Mustapha Guitouni to Baghdad.

(Source: Oil Ministry)