Aquatech, a global leader in water purification technology for industrial and infrastructure markets, has been awarded a contract to provide water treatment services that will help enhance the heavy oil extraction rate of the Amal Oil Fields in Oman.

Under terms of the contract, Aquatech will construct a 237 cubic m/hr produced water softening plant for the Amal Steam Facilities Phase 1B.

In this project, Aquatech will supply a unique ion exchange technology-based super softening plant for treating high TDS and high-temperature produced water, a statement from Aquatech said.

The treated water will be fed to the steam generators for generating steam, which will be injected into the heavy oil wells to enhance the extraction rate of oil.

The technology involved will include a nutshell filtering unit (NSK), followed by a primary strong acid cation unit and a polishing strong acid cation unit (SAC), and finally by a weak acid cation unit (WAC).

The end product will have hardness reduced to less than 1 ppm, and will be used for process water, the statement said.

The Amal Steam development is the largest single brownfield development in South Oman. Oman has experienced an increase in oil production over the past few years as a result of investing in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques and incentives to create new investment in oil exploration.

'Aquatech is recognised as a leader for our experience in the oil & gas industry and our expertise in treating challenging waters. The awarding of this contract reflects our excellent track record in successfully executing projects having high specification requirements, especially in the Middle East region, in similar applications,” said Vikrant Sarin, manager, technical & business development, industrial solutions, Aquatech Eastern. “This contract further deepens our relationships in the region, and further demonstrates our capabilities.”

Aquatech has successfully executed a number of projects in the Middle East, including work for Shell and Occidental Mukhaizna. In Mukhaizna, the company provided similar softening plants and thermal units for different phases of the project.

The engineering-procurement contractor for the project was the Worley Parsons group, through Worley Parsons Oman Engineering. The facility is owned by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the premier hydrocarbon exploration and production company in Oman. – TradeArabia News Service