News
& Events

The Ministry of Oil organizes a virtual seminar on (free gas in the State of Kuwait)

06-04-2021

Today, Tuesday morning, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Oil organized a virtual panel discussion entitled (Free Gas in the State of Kuwait), during which it discussed the production processes of free gas and light oil in the country and future plans to increase production. The chief reservoir engineer at Kuwait Oil Company, M. Noura Al-Maya, said that based on the strategic directions of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Kuwait is seeking to increase the exploration and production of non-associated natural gas, as the first free gas well was discovered in 2005 in Umm al-Naqa in northern Kuwait. It stated that Jurassic reservoirs were also discovered in the fields of northern Kuwait (Rawdatain, Sabriya, Abu Dhabi, Umm Naqa and Bahra), which necessitated the establishment of 4 Jurassic facilities for the production of non-associated gas, indicating that the facility (EPF-50) was launched and was operational in 2008, and the Sabriya facility, which It will be operational at the end of 2017, and the facilities East and West Al Rawdatain will be operational in 2018. It said that in 2020 the total production of the four facilities reached 550 million cubic feet per day of free gas (non-associated). It stated that free gas fields have difficult production conditions represented in the high percentage of toxic hydrogen sulfide gas, which ranges between 2% to 8%, and high pressure and temperature temperatures that reach 280 degrees Fahrenheit (equivalent to 130 degrees Celsius), as well as the great depths of wells that reach To 16.5 thousand feet. On the strategic plan for the production of free gas in Kuwait, Al-Maya said that the Kuwait Oil Company has developed a plan for the production of free gas in 3 stages, which is the first stage to produce approximately 175 million cubic feet per day of free gas, as this stage was achieved through the operation of the early production facility. (EPF-50), and the plant’s production was raised to 210 million standard barrels per day of free gas. It stated that the current second phase was raising production to approximately 550 million cubic feet per day of free gas, as this phase was achieved through the operation of the Jurassic production facilities in Sabriya, east and west of Rawdatain. She indicated that the future third phase through which the Kuwait Oil Company aims to reach the production of 950 million cubic feet per day of free gas by 2023. It said that it is currently producing 127 Jurassic wells to meet the needs of the facilities and to reach the strategic objectives, and the future plan aims to continue producing 950 million cubic feet during the past years through the introduction of early production units 4 and 5. For her part, chief geologist at Kuwait Oil Company, Areej Al-Darmi, said that oil reservoirs in Kuwait that contain free gas are "very difficult" and reach very great depths, reaching about 6 times the length of the underground Burj Khalifa, and these harsh conditions require special production equipment to be imported. From manufacturers to match the nature of the fields in Kuwait. Al-Darmi stated that during 2020 the Kuwait Oil Company raised the levels of free gas production to reach 550 million cubic feet per day in September 2020 to cover the decrease in associated gas production that coincided with the reduction of Kuwait’s production, in implementation of Kuwait’s commitments in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its independent allies from Overseas (OPEC +). She explained that the Kuwait Oil Company annually drills between 22 to 23 free gas wells per year, indicating that the production of 550 million cubic feet per day of gas in Kuwait comes from 9 fields currently, noting that the company has 100 active wells. Al-Darami thanked the Ministry of Oil for their great support over the past years, adding: "In view of the rapid expansion plans in the Jurassic fields and the increasing challenges in northern Kuwait, it will be important to strengthen close cooperation with the Ministry of Oil faster and more so that the common goals and objectives are achieved." "We thank the Ministry of Oil and its leadership and express our deep gratitude for this cooperation, which contributed to reaching the current level of success in Jurassic gas production, as this continuous cooperation will be crucial to reach more challenging and daring production goals in the next four or five years from the Jurassic gas fields in the country," she said. North Kuwait. " During the seminar, Al-Darami presented the first sample of shale oil extracted in Kuwait, which was extracted from a well in the country with new technology and in unusual conditions. In a question about the strategic goal of producing free gas in Kuwait, Al-Darmi said that the Kuwait Oil Company aims to maintain the production of 950 million cubic feet per day during the next ten years, noting that the plans put in place expect a decrease in that production during that long period, but it will be compensated by the new explorations that take place With the various groups in the company to develop production according to developments. On the developments in gas production in the world and its price drop significantly as a result of the outbreak of the Corona pandemic in the world and its impact on consumption rates and the extent of Kuwait's resort to relying on imports instead of producing gas at a high financial cost, Al-Darmi said that Kuwait continues its production plans as it is in order to meet the needs of the Ministry of Electricity and Water from Gas, noting that gas production in Kuwait is competitive, as quantities of high-quality light oil are extracted with it, which raises its prices globally, and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation mixes it with Kuwaiti export crude to raise the degree of purity. For his part, the chief geologist for the exploratory evaluation team at the Kuwait Oil Company, Riyadh Ibrahim Abu Talib, affirmed that the exploration operations for free gas in the country are continuing to reach the desired strategic plan for production and set by the state represented by the Petroleum Corporation to increase oil and gas reserves. Abu Talib pointed out that there are many challenges facing the company in the framework of producing this type of gas, as it is located under great depths starting from about 18,000 feet in the southern fields of the State of Kuwait in the Khuff and Unizah layers, and reaching depths of 22 thousand feet in the north Kuwait, which sometimes requires special equipment, may not be available at times in the global market. He said that the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation is concerned with monitoring the budgets of those exploration operations for the next ten years, which is the stage of converting the reservoir to the stage of actual gas production in full, if we succeed in discovering gas. He explained that reducing the expenses of the oil sector in line with the conditions of the Corona pandemic is one of the reasons for delay in exploration operations that may affect the achievement of the Corporation's strategy for the year 2040, indicating at the same time that the company is carrying out accurate studies on the volume of gas in the target reservoir before drilling and converting it to a stage Production and we conduct an economic feasibility study for the available gas quantity if the quantities are commercially feasible with respect to the cost of drilling for the well because the production cost is very high. For her part, Director of Public Relations at the Ministry of Oil, Sheikha Tamadur Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, said in an intervention during the virtual seminar that Kuwait spares no effort to rehabilitate its infrastructure, expand and keep pace with all the various technologies, through a huge group of projects aimed at increasing production and achieving its strategy Aiming to move forward with steady steps towards leadership in the oil sector, as it is the backbone and main pillar of the Kuwaiti economy. Sheikha Tamader Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah stated that the Kuwait Oil Company is moving forward in implementing its ambitious plans to establish many projects aimed at increasing the production of free gas through access to the latest technological means and gaining global expertise, in addition to qualifying national cadres and making them able to face the challenges facing Oil and gas industry. During the intervention, she thanked the Kuwait Oil Company and all those working on free gas projects and the effort made by everyone in studies, preparations and meetings despite the spread of the Corona pandemic in the country and the world at large, wishing safety for all.