Bahrain is considering the launch of a pilot project to recover a huge untapped resource in the residual oil saturation in the Gas Cap of the Mauddud reservoir, Energy Minister Dr Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza said here at a conference on Monday. 

 

Speaking at the opening of the 12th Middle East Geosciences Conference and Exhibition (GEO 2016), the minister said that efforts are being made to produce the residual oil saturation in the Gas Cap of the Mauddud reservoir. “For this, currently an expanded pilot project is being evaluated to determine the best way to recover this huge resource,” he added.

 

The Bahrain Field, said the minister, was discovered in 1932, the first discovery in the GCC countries.

 

“We are proud of the fact that although a large percentage of the recoverable reserves of the Bahrain Field have already been produced over the last 84 years, National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga), through Tatweer Petroleum, managed during the last few years to arrest, and reverse the declining oil production, and to increase the daily oil output by more than 50 per cent, compared with the production level of 2009.

 

“Additionally, the non-associated gas production capacity was also increased by around 30 per cent, which enabled us to meet all natural gas demands during the last five years,” added Dr Mirza.

 

“Despite all challenges, we are confident, and determined, to develop the non-associated gas resources of the deep sandstones formations in the Bahrain Field,” he added.

 

According to him, Noga has managed to reduce associated gas flaring in the field, to less than 0.5 per cent. The associated gas that used to be flared, he said, is captured and re-injected in the producing reservoirs.

 

A $355 million expansion of gas processing facilities at the Bahrain National Gas Company will increase its processing capacity by 350 million cubic feet per day. It will process the additional associated gas, which resulted from Tatweer’s increased production to produce liquefied petroleum gas. 

 

“The residue gas, will then be injected in the producing reservoirs, to maintain pressure and to cycle the rich gas,” he added.

 

During his opening remarks to conference delegates, Dr Mirza said the conference theme ‘Today’s Geoscience, Tomorrow’s Energy’ truly reflected the reality of the petroleum industry. 

 

“Today, we find ourselves in a price environment, that has serious implications on the long-term horizon of the world we live in, and on the welfare of nations and citizens.

 

“Many of the producing nations, have set their spending budgets, on certain revenue assumptions, that are multiples of today’s prevailing prices,” he added.

 

According to him, with the current decline in oil prices from $115 per barrel in April 2011 to an average price of $32 per barrel in January, and as the upstream business grows increasingly competitive, coupled with the realisation that most of the easy oil had already been found and mostly produced, development of new supplies would be more challenging, more expensive to produce, and also require innovative solutions that are likely to be developed by technical congregations like conferences.

 

“Our challenge is to combine technology, business and people in an innovative way, that enables us to successfully produce the huge oil and gas reserves, in the Arabian Gulf, and deliver them to the market in a safe, reliable and cost-effective manner,” he said.

 

According to him, the task will require collaboration between the industry, service providers, academia and host governments.

 

“We must continue to develop technology, that accurately locates hydrocarbon reserves and produce them. Our focus today is on finding new reserves, maximising recovery factors from discovered assets, optimising cost and developing sustainable supply solutions.” 

 

The key to the future will be the better understanding of the geology, rock mechanisms and development of new technology that allows industry to provide oil and gas, from the highly potential resources of unconventional reservoirs, he said.

 

On the business side, the co-operation between international oil companies and host countries is more urgent than ever to explore and produce difficult oil and gas resources. 

 

This, he said, will most likely mandate the development of new contracting strategies that address the concerns of all relevant parties. 

 

The service providers, with their established research and development capabilities, will continue to play an important role to better image the subsurface, for finding additional reserves, and for providing the stakeholders with innovative solutions needed to produce the remaining reserves in mature fields. 

 

On the people side, the oil and gas industry must manage the human side of its resources. Dramatic demographic shifts are threatening the sectors’ health, like never before, said the minister. 

 

The associated 6,000 sq m exhibition of oil and gas exploration products and services opened in a separate ceremony today.

 

More than 4,000 delegates and 120 exhibitors will converge for three days of unbeatable educational opportunities and networking. –Trade Arabia News Service