Qatar Petroleum (QP) plans to redevelop its Bul Hanine offshore oil field with an investment of $11bn, the state-owned company says.

The project, which is currently at the pre-front end engineering & design (pre-feed) phase, will be carried out to double the production rate, which MEED estimates at about 45,000 barrels a day (b/d).

Bul Hanine, which is located 120 kilometres to the east of the Qatar coast, is the fourth largest oil asset currently producing in the Gulf country.

Reservoir and field-wide studies have been undertaken to reassess the reserves and long-term prospects for each of QP’s fields.

The project will include new offshore central production facilities and a new onshore gas liquids processing facility at Mesaieed. QP also plans to drill around 150 new wells between now and 2028.

Oil produced at Bul Hanine will be sent to Halul Island for expert, while the estimated 900 million cubic feet a day (bf/d) of sour rich gas will be transported through a new 150km pipeline to Mesaieed for processing. Lean sweet gas will be sent back offshore for compression and injection.

One of the biggest problems facing the oil industry in Qatar is the age of existing fields. The onshore Dukhan field has been in operation since 1949 while the two other QP operated fields, the offshore Maydan Mahzam and Bul Hanine, were brought on stream in the 1970s.

All have experienced falling production in recent years, on account of age.