JPF-3 production facility modernization completes ahead of schedule
‘Performance test completed and running, KOC very happy ‘
KUWAIT CITY, Aug 9: The Jurassic Production Facility 3 (JPF-3) modernization and expansion project has been completed and commissioned ahead of schedule, according to sources in the oil and gas industry, reports Al-Qabas daily.
According to MEED magazine, the Kuwait Oil Company awarded the project, worth $117.75 million, to local contractor “Spetco” as an order to amend a contract signed on June 13 last year.
One of the sources said, “The performance test has been completed and is running. KOC is very happy that the project was completed two and a half months ahead of schedule.”
According to industry sources, the project began operating on August 1. The project included increasing the facility’s oil processing capacity by 25%, from 40,000 barrels per day to 50,000 barrels per day. By adding a second gas train (the mechanical components that feed the burner with fuel), gas processing capacity has been doubled from 104 million standard cubic feet per day to 208 million cubic feet per day.
It is believed that awarding the promotion through an amendment order rather than a separate bidding has been beneficial to KOC in several ways, one of which is that work can begin quickly at a time when bidding processes in Kuwait have experienced long delays, and been severely disrupted by the pandemic. Under the original terms of the modification order, the project was to be implemented over a period of 16 months, with work beginning in October 2022.
Fully operational
MEED added that under the terms of the contract, Spetco will operate and maintain the facility for another two years after completion. The JPF-3 facility in the West Al-Rawdatain field in Kuwait became fully operational on December 22, 2019.
The Kuwait Oil Company awarded a contract worth $377 million for the original project to Spetco in July 2016. The scope of the first phase of the project includes a gas processing facility and an oil processing facility, with a capacity of 120 million standard cubic feet per day and 40,000 barrels per day, respectively. The first phase was fully operational at the end of March 2018.
The second phase of the project is a sulfur recovery unit. It was originally scheduled to be fully operational in July last year, but has experienced delays due to construction problems. The project was delivered using the EPF contract, rather than the EPC model. The EPF contract is similar to the BOT pattern, allowing the main contractor to recover costs by operating the facility before it is transferred to a public company.
The contract awarded to Spetco was one of three contracts that constituted the second phase of Kuwait’s non-associated gas production program.
The other two contracts were awarded to Schlumberger, the US company -- a contract worth $380 million for the Jurassic Production Facility in East Al-Rawdatain, and the third contract for the development of the Umm Naqa and Sabriya fields, worth $477 million.
The three contracts that constituted the second phase of the non-associated gas production program in Kuwait included the production of about 120,000
barrels per day of wet crude, and more than 300 million cubic feet per day of sour gas from Al-Rawdatain, Al-Sabriya, northeastern Al-Rawdatain, Umm Naqa and Al-Dhabi in northern Kuwait.
Each contract covered the construction, operation and maintenance of oil and gas separation and treatment systems, export pipelines, wastewater treatment facilities and vapor gas recovery pressure systems for a period of five years.
Spetco’s five-year O&M contract for Jurassic Production Facility 3 (JPF-3) was activated on December 23, 2020.
Under the terms of the original contract, the contract is valid for 1,586 days. During this time, a fixed daily rate is paid to Spetco, which will allow it to recover its capital investment.
After five years, KOC will have the option to purchase the facility or renew its operation and maintenance contract with Spetco.