Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is carrying out two new engineering studies to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) for use in its refineries and processing plants, or for reinjection into one of the UAE’s biggest gas fields, according to sources close to the studies.

One of the studies is being carried out to help maintain reservoir pressure and boost gas production at the Shah sour gas field, and the other is concerned with the capturing of CO2 at gas processing facilities in Habshan, the sources said.

The Shah field is located around 180 kilometres southwest of Abu Dhabi in the Western Region. The $10bn development is operated by Al-Hosn Gas, a joint venture of Adnoc and US oil company Occidental Petroleum, producing a total of more than 1 billion cubic feet per day (cf/d) of gas, with 500 million cf/d of treated gas used for domestic consumption.

The Habshan-Bab complex can handle as much as 4.75 billion cf/d of associated gas, making it the largest in the UAE and one of the biggest in the Gulf. It produces 18,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of natural gas liquids, 270,000 barrels a day (b/d) of condensate and 3.70 billion cf/d of residue gas. Some 2.40 billion cf/d is used for oil field reinjection.

Future use of captured gas

Adnoc has been using CO2 for injection into oil and gas fields since 2009, but is now stepping up its efforts.

From 2021, Adnoc will gradually increase its use of CO2, and expects to capture 250 million cf/d by 2027. It wants to do this by sourcing additional CO2 from its gas processing plants and injecting it into different oil fields.

The latest studies follow Adnoc’s full control acquisition of carbon capture firm Al-Reyadah from Masdar in January. The company was launched by Adnoc and Masdar in 2016, as the first commercial-scale carbon capture, use and storage facility in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Al-Reyadah captures approximately 240,000 tonnes of CO2 from Emirates Steel Industries. The gas is compressed and dehydrated, before being transported through pipelines for injection into Adnoc’s reservoirs at the Rumaitha and Bab oil fields to bolster oil recovery.