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Kuwait Oil Company plans facility to sweeten gas

27 March 2023

State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is planning to tender a new gas sweetening facility in West Kuwait, according to industry sources.

Plans for the project are still at an early stage, and it is expected to be tendered in the first or second quarter of 2024.

The main contract for the project is anticipated to be worth around $300m, but it could be significantly larger depending on the final specifications of the planned facility.

Gas sweetening facilities reduce hydrogen sulfide carbon dioxide levels in natural gas.

If natural gas only contains trace quantities of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide, it is referred to as sweet gas.

Sweet gas is non-corrosive, requires little refining and can be easily transported to where it is consumed.

There are several methods for gas sweetening, and the equipment ranges in efficiency, cost, scale and size.

Oil and gas tenders

Earlier this month, MEED revealed that the tender packages for two oil and gas projects had been submitted to Kuwait’s Central Agency for Public Tenders (Capt).

The projects, which have an estimated combined value of $1.35bn, are expected to be among the few significant oil and gas projects awarded in the country over the coming 12-month period.

The tender packages were submitted to Capt by KOC.

One of the projects, known as EF/2058, is worth an estimated $650m. The project is focused on expanding two effluent water disposal plants for the oil and gas sector.

The two facilities that will be expanded are called EWDP-1 and EWDP-2. EWDP-1 is about 20 kilometres south of Kuwait City, and EWDP-2 is approximately 40km south of the capital.

The second project has the reference number EF/2059 and is worth an estimated $700m. It is focused on debottlenecking four gathering centres (GCs) in eastern Kuwait.

The GCs that will be upgraded as part of the project are GC 1, GC 2, GC 11 and GC 19.

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Wil Crisp

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