An ABB supervisory control and data acquisition solution is enabling Kuwait Oil Company to monitor, control and track the production, transfer and flaring of gas and condensate throughout its entire production assets, including 2,000 km of pipelines, 21 gathering centers and the world’s second largest oilfield, Burgan.
The solution has enabled Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to improve the efficiency and management of its vast network of surface production assets in Kuwait by providing real-time data on the volume of natural gas and condensate produced, and its transfer between the oil and gas fields and Kuwait’s three refineries.
Known as the ‘Telemetry for gas and condensate networks project,’ the solution is the cornerstone of one of KOC’s most pressing strategic targets: to reduce gas flaring from an average of 11.3 percent in 2006-07 to 1 percent in 2010-11. The resultant gain in gas revenues and reduction in CO2 emissions will be substantial.
Most of Kuwait’s gas and condensate is a byproduct of oil production. As Kuwait is the world’s fourth largest producer of crude oil and has the world’s second largest oilfield (Burgan), KOC’s gas and condensate networks are correspondingly large.
They extend across much of the country and include 2,000 km of pipelines, 21 gathering centers where the gas and condensate is separated from the oil, four gas booster stations where the gas is treated and compressed, and 36 unmanned field stations.
Since 2009 the gas and condensate networks have been equipped with an ABB supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system that controls each asset in the network and measures the volume of gas and condensate as it flows through the system to the refineries.
The solution controls vital parameters like flow, pressure and temperature at critical points in the networks. It detects leaks, measures flaring and calculates the revenue loss; and it enables gas to be diverted from one network to another, and pipelines to be shut down by remote.
Its most important function is to provide KOC management with real-time information on the performance of its assets by providing reports, history sheets, critical messages and alarms – all of which maximizes efficiency by tracking product flows and measuring leaks and flaring with precision.
Even after only a short period of operation, KOC is so impressed with the results of the telemetry system that it is basing future projects on the ABB solution. ABB has subsequently been selected by KOC to provide a control and data acquisition solution for a new 140 km gas pipeline and to connect a new booster station to the telemetry system.
ABB was responsible for supplying and integrating the solution parts – including SCADA, leak detection, management information system, telecom and instrumentation – into a fully integrated telemetry system.
Source: ABB
