Yibal Khuff Project: A marvel of oilfield engineering

A showpiece of oilfield engineering design and construction ingenuity is being formally unveiled today in the far west of the Sultanate of Oman.

The Yibal Khuff project, a complex undertaking that joins the likes of land ventures, such as the Rabab Harweel Integrated Project of Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), and the Khazzan Central Processing Project of BP Oman, will be inaugurated on Monday at a ceremony presided over by His Highness Sayyid Shihab bin Tarik al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for Defence Affairs.

Set up with an investment of around $2.6 billion, it ranks among the largest of Oil & Gas projects in the upstream sector of the industry. Majority government-owned PDO, the country’s largest producer of oil and gas, has also billed it as the company’s second project and the most technically complex as well in its history.

Located around 360km southwest of Muscat, the Yibal Khuff Project (YKP) began production in September. Four sour wells drilled as part of the project were opened, yielding sour oil that was pumped to the YKP Central Processing Facility. Since then, crude oil from the facility has begun flowing into the Main Oil Line. When fully operational, the mega project will be delivering five million cubic metres of gas per day and around 20,000 bpd of crude.

Covering an area of 1.68km2, YKP is described as a venture of high strategic value in meeting the Sultanate of Oman’s growing medium and long- term oil and gas demands, as well as reducing PDO’s net non-associated gas import.

UK-based Petrofac, one of the biggest hydrocarbon, refining and petrochemical contractors in the Sultanate, was selected in 2015 to oversee the development of the giant Yibal Khuff project as part of an engineering, procurement and construction management contract. Petrofac said at the time that the contract value was around $900 million.

The project processes a mix of hydrocarbons from a cluster of sour Oil & Gas reservoirs. Adding to its complexity are the ultra-high concentrations of sulphur, as well as other contaminants, that must be filtered out to meet the stringent specs set by PDO for the processed streams of oil and gas emerging from the complex. Around 235 tons of solid elemental sulphur will be produced daily as a result of sulphur recovery operations.

According to PDO, YKP has achieved several significant firsts, including the first to deliver the tallest column ever fabricated for PDO in Oman. This ‘Made in Oman’ acid gas recovery unit absorber stands at 48 metres high, four metres in diameter, and weighs 291 tonnes. It has also delivered one of PDO’s first Steam Turbine Generators, taking the heat from some of the facilities’ processes and using it to generate steam. The plant will be able to generate 13MW of electrical power, supplementing the 45MW of the Yibal Khuff Power plant.

Around 1,200 Omanis have been employed on site in the construction of the facilities, with a further 200 nationals deployed as fully qualified welders. Around $400 million were also awarded to Omani companies for the provision of goods and services.