KUWAIT - The Heavy/Sour Crude Project.

At least five international contractors are understood to have submitted applications for prequalification and letters of interest by 3 May for an estimated $120-150m EPC and a five-year operation and maintenance (O&M) contract for Kuwait's first commercial heavy/sour crude oil production project. That followed a meeting held two days earlier at KOC's offices. About 16 contractors attended the meeting, according to MEED.

The shortlist of successful applicants was to be announced by end-May, with a view to issuing a tender in June. An award is expected early next year. The project, called early production facilities (EPF), is aimed at processing 50,000 b/d of heavy crude in the initial stages from 20 wells in Rawdhatain and Sabriya. The EPC tender will include a produced water treatment and effluent water disposal system and gas compression, amine treating and sweetening plant, sulphur recovery and tail gas units. In 2002/03, KOC successfully tested a 5,000 b/d heavy crude pilot project with technical assistance from Parsons. The new project will also produce about 35 MCF/d of gas, which KOC plans to supply to refining arm Kuwait National Petroleum Co. (KNPC).

The EPF project, which will take 20 months to complete, is part of KOC's plans to process sour crude and blend it with the sweet crude produced from its oil fields in the north, south and south-east. KOC has plans to process up to 1m b/d of heavy crude.

Sabriya, found in 1956 by KOC, is Kuwait's third largest field, located between Raudhatain and Bahra. It has had about 45 wells averaging 8,300 feet in depth. It went on stream in 1967, with recoverable reserves estimated at 4 bn barrels. This, too, was affected by Iraq's August 1990 invasion and the subsequent war. It was rehabilitated in 1992/93, with some of its installations totally rebuilt by early 1994. Oils of 28-32 deg. API, with a sulphur content of 2.5-3.4%, come from Mauddud, Burgan and Ratawi Fms of the Middle Cretaceous. KOC had also found light oil from a lower formation in the 1980s and upstream experts then said total reserves in place could be 13 bn barrels. The field's sustainable production capacity now is 90,000 b/d, dependent mainly on GC-23. The capacity of GC-23 is to be doubled to 165,000. Sabriya is to be redeveloped under an IBBC and its sustainable capacity for 20-25 years should be 200,000 b/d. This will be part of a programme for the northern fields.

In mid-November 2000 KOC found a Marrat Fm of light oil beneath Sabriya and the well flowed at the rate of about 15,000 b/d. In mid-2002, KOC tested flows of 6,000 b/d from a new well. It was then said the well had the potential of producing 15,000 b/d of oil and about 45 MCF/d of associated gas. Further drilling at the field was done by Schlumberger under a contract.

Bahra, found in 1956 by KOC (BP & Gulf Oil) in the north of Kuwait City, was originally thought to be a small field near the site of the first well ever drilled in Kuwait during the 1930s. The latter well was abandoned. Now the field has a few producing wells with a depth of 8,500 feet. Oil, mainly 30 deg. API, comes from Mauddud limestone, and Burgan and Zubair sandstones of the Lower Cretaceous. The field went on stream in 1960. Its reserves were re-evaluated in the 1980s but development was delayed. Its remaining reserves in place have been estimated at more than 900m barrels. Bahra's development in 1989 was to be undertaken jointly by KOC and Technoexport of the Soviet Union, with the latter to act as contractor, and drilling was to begin in early 1990. The choice of a Soviet company was made mainly for security reasons, in view of threats then from Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime in Iraq.