The Dalma gas field project is located off the coast of Abu Dhabi, UAE. It is being developed as part of the Ghasha ultra-sour gas concession project that seeks to bolster the UAE’s goal of attaining self-sufficiency in gas production.

Operated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the Ghasha concession project is jointly owned by ADNOC (55%), Eni (25%), Wintershall (10%), OMV (5%), and Lukoil (5%) under a 40-year concession agreement which commenced in November 2018.

The concession project involves the development of nine shallow gas and condensate projects, including Hail, Dalma, and Ghasha.

Other major offshore oil, gas, and condensate fields in the concession include Nasr, SARB, and Mubarraz.

Project Gallery

The Dalma gas project is expected to produce 340 million standard cubic feet per day (Mmscfd) when it becomes operational in 2022.

ADNOC awarded two engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts to Petrofac Emirates, based in Abu Dhabi, and a joint venture (JV) of Petrofac and Sapura Energy in February 2020. With a total value of $1.65bn, the deals included a $1.065bn contract to Petrofac and a $591m package to the JV.

However, the two EPC contracts were cancelled by ADNOC in April 2020.

Location and geology of Dalma gas development project

The Ghasha concession is located in a sensitive marine environment and will include the construction of artificial islands for the protection of marine life.

The Dalma offshore ultra-sour gas field is located 190km northwest of the city of Abu Dhabi and the development of the field will tap the potential of the Arabian Basin.

The concession project is targeting a production capacity of more than 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day and 120,000 barrels of oil and condensates a day, upon completion.

Dalma gas development project details

The project plan envisioned the development of the field through two contract packages. Package A of the now-cancelled contracts sought to include the engineering, procurement and construction of four offshore wellhead towers, pipelines, and umbilicals in Hair Dalma, Bu Haseer, and Satah fields.

The second EPC package planned to develop gas conditioning facilities for gas dehydration, compression, and other related utilities in Arzanah Island.

The produced gas will be processed at the Habshan gas processing plant in Abu Dhabi to produce sales gas, condensate, and sulphur.

Contractors

KBR won a project management consultancy (PMC) contract for the Ghasha concession project, including the management of the EPC packages of the Dalma project, in February 2020. The four-year contract has an option to extend it by two additional years.

The company previously received a PMC contract for managing the front end engineering and design (FEED) services phase of the Dalma gas development project. It was also involved in the detailed design and surveys of the offshore artificial islands.

TechnipFMC was awarded a contract to conduct FEED works for the Dalma gas field in January 2018.

Ghasha Concession project

The mega project is projected to meet approximately 20% of the country’s gas demand by the second half of 2020-2030. ADNOC awarded contracts worth $1.4bn for the construction of artificial islands to develop, drill, and produce gas from the Ghasha Concession. The project will have 11 artificial islands to support the drilling of wells and production activities. The concession, located in the Al Dhafra region, will target several trillion standard cubic feet of recoverable gas.

It will involve the use of smart technologies to enable remote access to project infrastructure. A control centre will be used to operate the remote facilities.

National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) was contracted to construct 10 new islands and two causeways and expand an existing island, in February 2019.

The islands are being constructed keeping cost and environmental benefits in consideration. Artificial islands will eliminate the need to explore various locations for the production and will safeguard marine life from the adverse effects of the commercial operations.