COMPANY PROFILE
2015
ZADCO
+9712 60 50 000 | www.zadco.ae
In the field Editorial: Abigail Saltmarsh
A leading operating company in the oil industry in the UAE, ZADCO operates the Upper Zakum field – the fourth largest oil field in the world the development is expected to increase production to 750,000 barrels of oil per day. “Our aspirations are in alignment with the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, and we are honoured to contribute to Abu Dhabi’s sustainable development goals. We consider it vital that our operations are conducted sustainably, safely, and responsibly.” PAGE 2
ZADCO The Zakum Development Company’s (ZADCO) flagship UZ750 Project is one of the largest offshore oilfield development projects in the United Arab Emirates and aims to increase oil production from the Upper Zakum field to some 750,000 barrels of oil per day until 2025 and beyond. The UZ750 project commenced in 2008 to redevelop Upper Zakum, which is recognised as the second largest oil field in the Gulf and the fourth largest in the world - and ZADCO, a joint venture comprising of ADNOC (60%), ExxonMobil (28%) and Japan Oil Development Company (Jodco – 12%), was firmly positioned at the helm. Now, as the project continues, the redevelopment of Upper Zakum continues to present a multitude of technological and operating firsts for ZADCO, which will provide opportunities for additional development applications in the Gulf. It is also making great strides in reinforcing the company’s position as a pioneer, as it breaks new ground in intensively applying complex techniques in extended reach drilling and maximum reservoir contact technology.
DEVELOPING THE RESERVOIR T he Upper Zaku m fi e l d ’s s t o r y really g oes r ight b a c k t o 1 977 wh en Sh ei kh Z a y e d B i n S u ltan Al N ah y a n, an n ou n ced th e imp e nd i ng i n co r po r atio n of ZAD CO t o d ev elop an d o per a t e t he re ser vo ir. Th e f ir s t shi p me nt o f U pper Zaku m crud e oi l w a s
e xp ort e d on t he ta nk e r Al - Ai n i n 1983 a nd si nc e the n the d e v e l op me nt of the fi e l d ha s b e e n c onsi d e re d o ne o f the ma j or t e c hni c al a c hi e v e m e nts i n A b u D ha b i . In 1988, ADNOC decided to merge the operations of Umm Al-Dalkh Development Company (UDECO) with ZADCO’s operations. This merger, which was considered the first of its kind in the oil industry in Abu Dhabi, added more responsibilities related to the operations of Umm Al Dalkh and Satah fields, which are also managed by ZADCO, as well as the Upper Zakum field. Although ZADCO also oversees Satah and Umm Al D a l k h , U p p e r Z a k u m re m a i n s its most important operation. Located 84 km north west of the Abu Dhabi Islands, the f i e l d c o v e r s a ro u n d 1 , 2 0 0 sq km of the Gulf marine a re a s a n d c o m p r i s e s o f a ro u n d 4 5 0 w e l l s e x t e n d i n g a p p ro x i m a t e l y 7 , 0 0 0 f t t o 8 , 0 0 0 f t b e l o w t h e e a r t h ’s surface. T h e w e l l s a re t i e d t o m o re than 90 existing platforms. Upper Zakum has an accommodation platform with the capacity to accommodate 550 personnel, making it one o f t h e l a r g e s t o ff s h o re l i v i n g s t r u c t u re s i n t h e w o r l d . The Umm Al Dalkh field is located 25 km north-west of Abu Dhabi and covers an a re a o f 1 5 0 s q k m . I t w a s d i s c o v e re d i n 1 9 6 9 a n d o i l p ro d u c t i o n b e g a n i n 1 9 8 5 . The Satah field is located 200 km north-west of Abu Dhabi and covers an area of 35 sq km. It was discovered in 1975 and oil production began in July 1987.
HIGH TECH INSTALLATIONS Oil from Upper Zakum flows through a pipeline network to one of four main processing facilities for treatment. It is then pumped through main oil lines measuring around 55 km to oil operation centres for further processing, storage and export. One of these is at Zirku Island, 140 km north-west of Abu Dhabi. This site has state-of-theart oil and gas installations and is the primary industrial base for the processing, storage and export of oil from Upper Zakum, Umm Al-Dalkh and Satah Fields. Here, there are also modern living facilities capable of accommodating more than 3,000 personnel. Several projects have contributed to the island’s industrial infrastructure and upgrading its capacity, as well as civil projects related to landscaping and other living and recreational facilities. In addition, the company also operates on Arzanah Island, which is the base for Satah field operations and accommodates around a 100 personnel in a modern housing complex. This island is connected with other ZADCO systems, and has water resources and a gas injection plant.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION Right from the beginning, the company’s mission was to focus on sustainable production to optimal levels, while ensuring it met the future crude oil requirements of the Supreme Petroleum Council and shareholders. In order to succeed, the strategy was to guarantee best practices in field
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development and operations alongside a continuous improvement in health and safety and training, says the company’s CEO, Saif Nasser Al Suwaidi. “At ZADCO, our aspirations are in alignment with the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, and we are honoured to contribute to Abu Dhabi’s sustainable development goals. We are aware of the increasing pressures and challenges we face in a global context, such as greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. “Our short and mid-term goals address this by establishing systematic efforts towards
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increasing our energy efficiency to reduce our emissions. We consider it vital that our operations are conducted sustainably, safely, and responsibly.” Reducing emissions, the control of industrial waste and the introduction of zero flaring will remain foremost among ZADCO’s priorities. Zirku Island is an example for an industrial centre with its harmony with the natural environment as it is home to an array of local and migrant birds, rich marine life besides mangrove plantation and greenery are main features of the site environment.
The company also invests annually in training and development programmes aimed at continuously improving and sustaining the level of staffing that support the values it aspires to on a daily basis.
DRIVING FORWARD Indeed, it has been with these messages in mind that ZADCO has pushed ahead with its UZ750 Project. The first strategy for hitting the targets was based on an additional 25 wellhead platform towers, together with hundreds of km of new flow lines but the realisation that the costs
ZADCO
would be high costs and limited flexibility resulted in ZADCO seeking out alternative solutions. As a result, it began focusing on an “artificial island concept.” This would see drilling centres and processing facilities located on artificial islands, and would bring in the new technologies in extended reach drilling and maximum reservoir contact technology to effectively develop the entire field and attain the desired targets. Historically, ZADCO has drilled wells of approximately 10,000 feet. However, with the new technology, it is planning to reach 30,000 to 35,000 feet. To date,
ZADCO has completed drilling a pair of maximum reservoir contact wells, each almost 20,000 feet total drilled length – both wells setting several drilling records for the company. According to ZADCO, artificial islands provide a more flexible and robust development base for the redevelopment of the Upper Zakum field. The move to the “artificial island concept” will significantly reduce life-cycle development costs and enable long term maximum recovery levels to be achieved. Green field development on islands accelerates oil development rate, it says, and it
is safer and more capital efficient. The current development plan has the potential to extend the production plateau for up to more than 15 years.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY The UZ750 project continues to move forward. In a recent development, Amec Foster Wheeler announced it has been awarded an extension to its existing project management consultancy contract for the project. Amec Foster Wheeler designs, delivers and maintains strategic and complex assets for its customers across the global energy and related sectors. The company operates across
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the whole of the oil and gas industry – from production through to refining, processing and distribution of derivative products – and in the mining, clean energy, power generation, pharma, environment and infrastructure markets. Amec Foster Wheeler’s scope of work includes project management consultancy services to be delivered as part of an integrated project management team. ZADCO will oversee the contractor’s delivery of reimbursable engineering, procurement and construction scopes of work, as well as commissioning and start-up support of the facilities. This work is scheduled to be completed in December 2017. Roberto Penno, group
president of Asia, Middle East, Africa and Southern Europe, at Amec Foster Wheeler, says: “This UZ750 contract win cements Amec Foster Wheeler’s ongoing engagement in this strategically important project. The Middle East is a key growth area for Amec Foster Wheeler and we look forward to continuing our relationship with ZADCO on this next important phase of work.”
A STRONG FUTURE According to ZADCO, the company looks to the future with confidence, devoting its efforts and capabilities to serving Abu Dhabi and the UAE. “To assist us as we journey
the way to attain higher performance and achieve our mission, we have developed a vision and a set of core business values. The core business values are based on the principles of transparency and respect for individuals. This will cultivate positive relationships among our colleagues at all levels of the company and with those we deal with from outside the company. “Improved oil recovery will be a main target and accordingly, the introduction of the stateof-the-art technology will be available to serve and streamline operations, increase growth and control expenditure.”
Towards HSE Excellence Located in Mussafah, UAE, National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) stands as one of the leading marine contractors in the Middle East - providing dredging, reclamation works and marine construction. Operating out of a fully equipped yard in Abu Dhabi with state-of-the-art workshops and a 300-meter jetty, NMDC’s dredging and reclamation capabilities include: Pre and post survey works, designing of the Construction Environment Management Plan (CEMP), monitoring for the compliance and proactive QHSE program throughout the project, periodic reporting of progress to the client and efficient execution and delivery management.
The latest modern technology: With an extensive marine fleet - which is continually expanding due to company growth - it consists of an array of Cutter Suction Dredgers (CSD) - ranging in capacity from the small Beaver dredger, Jananah (1,795 KW) to its most powerful automated dredger, the Al Sadr (20,725 KW). RTK GPS and GTS equipment is used to conduct survey work for the pre-reclamation projects and to build hydrographic survey vessels, equipped with the latest dual frequency echo-sounders and sonar equipment. This data is then logged directly onto on-board computers to help facilitate volumetric calculations for carrying out the plotting of the detailed survey charts during survey operations.
The Upper Zakum field: Despite heavy competition, with a number of reputed dredging and offshore contractor companies bidding for the Upper Zakum Oil Field, NMDC was awarded the project by ZADCO’s subsidiary, ADNOC. The contract involved the construction of four artificial islands in the Upper Zakum fields and included the dredging, land reclamation and the construction of several harbours with quay walls and breakwaters for each island. “Adhering to strict Regulatory compliances, regular monitoring of the project process and with a capable staff to support, we always ensure the timely delivery of our services. Transparency, openness and readiness to improve are the key factors that our personnel abide by in all our day to day operations.”
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JOHAN SVERDRUP
W O R KS F O R DEVELOPMENT
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