Oman’s largest oil and gas producer, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), and GlassPoint Solar, a leader in solar enhanced oil recovery, have commissioned the region’s first solar Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) project which can produce 50tons of emissions-free steam on average per day with the help of sun rays with GlassPoint’s Enclosed Trough technology.
Applications of the project already provide an important amount of the country’s natural gas consumed annually. The PDO can drastically reduce the amount of natural gas it needs to produce steam for the EOR by simply using the solar steam. A 7MW uses the technology and has been functioning normally. It has succeeded in passing performance acceptance test with an impressive output of contracted steam by 10%.
The Managing Director of PDO, Raoul Restucci, said they have been able to prolong the durability of their heavy oil assets by “deploying innovative EOR technologies over the past few decades.” He said that “the GlassPoint system is proving it can reliably fuel thermal EOR with solar power while reducing the need to burn natural gas.” The system is helping Oman to reduce its expenses. It will also help it to reduce the use of its natural gas. The GlassPoint system is capable of reducing the usage of natural gas needed for EOR to only 20%.
A cheerful Rod MacGregor, GlassPoint’s CEO, said being the first in the region to make use of this technology showcases their “leadership and commitment to advancing new technologies that will economically expand production of existing reserves.”
Dr Syham Bentouati, head of New Technology Implementation at PDO pointed out that “preliminary results from this project demonstrate that solar steam generated with GlassPoint’s Enclosed Trough architecture is equally effective as natural gas for thermal EOR.”
Solar Enhanced Oil Recovery launched in Oman
