UAE - Sharjah Gas Processing & Exports.

Sharjah LPG Co. (Shalco) is owned 60% by the local government, 25% by BP and 7.5% by each of Itochu and Tokyo Boeki. Located at Hamriyah on the coast, it fractionates the gas of the Sajaa, Moveyeid and Kahaif fields and produces LPG. A plant at Sajaa processes the gas. Shalco has been expanded from 440 MCF/d in 1994 to 700 MCF/d of gas. Its output capacity has risen from 620,000 t/y in the first half of 1994 to 790,000 t/y. This breaks down as: 290,000 t/y of propane; 220,000 t/y of butane; and 280,000 t/y of NGL. Expansion of the Sajaa plant has enabled ASOC to process gas from Kahaif which went on stream in 1994.

Expansion at Hamriyah and Sajaa plants has included replacement of some of the fractionation columns, installation of a new turbo-expander and a new system improving the recovery of liquids. The detailed design and engineering work for the Sajaa plant was done by Fluor Daniel. The main contractor was El Wimpey Civil Engineering. PetroFac International installed two sweetening trains at the plant.

The propane and butane are marketed by Itochu and the NGL by BP. NGL and condensate are pumped from Sajaa through a 32-km, 12-inch pipeline to Hamriyah, where BP has its own jetty that accommodates tankers with capacity of up to 83,000 dwt. The terminal includes two storage tanks with a combined capacity of 110,000 cu m. The bulk of the condensate is shipped to Japan, with small quantities exported to Europe and North America. The condensate has a low sulfur content (0.01%) and a naphtha yield of just under 80%.

Although BP exports a major part of the natural gas it produces, it supplies gas directly to Sharjah City through gaslines on which a number of offtake points have been installed. Another pipeline pumps gas from Sajaa to the Layyah power and water desalination system, owned by the Sharjah Water & Electricity Authority. Sharjah's expanding city gas grid will raise its gas requirements rapidly in the coming years (see DT 20).