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Sharjah National Oil Corporation

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Sharjah National Oil Corporation
Company typeGovernment owned corporation
IndustryOil and Gas
PredecessorBP Sharjah, Shalco
Founded2010; 14 years ago (2010)
Headquarters
Sharjah
,
UAE
OwnerEmirate of Sharjah
Websitewww.snoc.ae

SNOC (the Sharjah National Oil Corporation) is an Oil and Gas producer based in Sharjah, UAE. Established by Emiri decree in 2010, SNOC is a corporation wholly owned by the government of the Emirate of Sharjah.[1][2] SNOC is the operator of the Sajaa Assets located in Sharjah, UAE. The Sajaa Assets consist of four gas fields, a hydrocarbon processing complex, and two marine terminals.[3]

History

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On 8 November 1978 a concession agreement was signed between the Emirate of Sharjah and the Amoco production company, allowing Amoco to explore for oil and gas across 600,000 acres (2,400 km2) of onshore Sharjah.[4]

On 10 May 1980, work started on the Sajaa-1 well which was drilled to a depth of 16,656 ft (5,077 m). The well marked the discovery of the Sajaa field which turned out to be one largest gas condensate fields in the UAE. In October 1981, the nearby 'Moveyeid' field was discovered. Construction of a gas processing plant at Al Sajaa was completed by June 1982 along with a condensate export terminal and offshore loading facility in Al Hamriyah. The first condensate cargo of 500,000 US bbl (60,000 m3) was exported on 30 July 1982 on the oil tanker ‘Amoco Savanah’. In 1983 gas sales started to Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) and later to Dubai and the Northern Emirates.[4]

On 23 March 1984, a construction agreement was signed between SHALCO (Sharjah LPG Company) and JGC to construct an LPG plant to recover secondary condensate plus propane and butane. An LPG terminal and associated export facilities were also constructed at Hamriyah (the first facility in what would later become Hamriyah port). The first load of LPG was exported from Hamriyah on 26 April 1986.[4]

Additional exploration drilling discovered a third field ‘Kahaif’ in 1992 with production starting in 1994. A second phase of drilling operations at Sajaa added a further 26 production wells.[4]

In 1999, BP assumed the operating role in Sharjah following a merger with Amoco.[5]

In April 2003, BP Sharjah and Baker Oil Tools began deployment of coiled tubing at the Sajaa field. The campaign included the world’s first coiled tubing campaign to feature underbalanced casing exit using gas as the milling fluid. The use of this technology allowed uninterrupted gas production throughout the entire milling operation.[6]

In November 2003, BP Sharjah announced that it had broken the world record for LPG recovery, achieving 99.75% recovery of propane and a near 100 percent recovery of butane and hydrocarbon condensate at the Sajaa Gas Plant.[7]

In 2010, Sharjah Ruler HH DR. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi announced the establishment of the Sharjah National Oil Company (SNOC) according to an Emiri decree. As an interim measure, Petrofac was awarded a five-year duty holder contract by SNOC to operate and maintain the Sajaa Assets and to facilitate a smooth transition following the end of the original Amoco concession agreement. By the end of 2015, SNOC assumed full responsibility for the management and operations of the Sajaa Assets.[1][8]

Entrance to the Sajaa gas plant's LPG road tanker loading facility

In January 2011, a field-wide compression project was implemented which included the installation of twelve gas engine driven reciprocating compressors to maximize production at low field pressures.[9]

In 2017, SNOC converted the Moveyeid field into a gas storage facility.  Injection into the Moveyeid field began in December 2017 using centrifugal compressors. In 2020, a second stage of compression was added using reciprocating compressors in series with the original centrifugal machines.  The 2nd stage of compression was commissioned on 6 January 2021 allowing SNOC to increase injection pressures to the Moveyeid field.[10]

In June 2018, SNOC expanded the Sajaa plant with the addition of an LPG road tanker loading facility.[11]

In January 2019, SNOC signed a concession agreement with Eni for the exploration of three onshore areas in Sharjah.[2][12]

In January 2020, SNOC and Eni announced a new discovery of natural gas and condensate at the Mahani field in Sharjah.[13][14][15][16] Production from the first well (Mahani-1) started on 4 January 2021, less than a year after the discovery was first announced.[17]

Operations

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SNOC’s operations are all located in the Emirate of Sharjah and include:[4][10]

  • The Sajaa, Kahaif, and Mahani onshore gas and condensate fields
  • The Moveyeid field, used for gas storage since 2017
  • The Sajaa gas, LPG, and hydrocarbon-condensate processing complex, which also acts as a hub for gas pipelines connecting the Northern Emirates
  • A dedicated facility for LPG road tanker loading attached to the Sajaa processing complex[11]
  • An LPG liquid storage facility, with a marine terminal, located inside the Hamriyah Free Zone
  • A hydrocarbon condensate storage terminal at Al Hamriyah with associated offshore loading facilities

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Sharjah establishes state-owned oil company". Arabian Business. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Sharjah to increase gas production as power demand in UAE grows". gulfnews.com. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Exploration and Production". SNOC. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Spearheading the UAE's new gas chapter". Tank Storage. Vol. 12, no. 7. 2 January 2018. ISSN 1750-841X.
  5. ^ "BP Sharjah delivers 40% stake in Sajaa oil field to Government of Sharjah". emirates247.com. 7 November 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  6. ^ Webster, Barry; Dean Pruitt, Randal (2005). "World's First Coiled Tubing Underbalanced Casing Exit Using Gas as the Milling Fluid". All Days. Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). doi:10.2118/96282-MS.
  7. ^ "Profiles - BP Sharjah". Energy, Oil and Gas. May 2010.
  8. ^ "Petrofac to operate gas plant in Sharjah". Oil and Gas Journal. 12 October 2010. ISSN 1750-841X.
  9. ^ "Five minutes with: Ray Shaw, Ariel Corporation". Middle East Oil and Gas. 11 May 2019. ISSN 1469-1043.
  10. ^ a b "Sharjah National Oil Corporation launches Gas Storage Project". Emirates News Agency. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  11. ^ a b "SNOC commissions LPG blending and loading project in Sharjah". Oil Review Middle East. 25 June 2018. ISSN 1464-9314.
  12. ^ "Eni enters in the UAE Sharjah Emirate signing Areas A, B and C Onshore Exploration Concessions". www.eni.com. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Gas field discovered in Sharjah, first in 37 years". wam. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Sharjah reveals first new onshore natural gas discovery in three decades". The National. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Sharjah's 'significant' gas discovery to boost emirate's economy". www.zawya.com. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  16. ^ "New onshore natural gas discovered in Sharjah". Times of Oman. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  17. ^ "UAE's SNOC, Eni produce first gas from Mahani field a year after discovery". S&P Global. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
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