Development of

Akkas Gas Field

in Iraq

Prepared By
Wisam Al-Shalchi
Petroleum Expert

Amman – 2008
 Contents
Summary 2

Section One
Akkas Gas Field
1-1 Introduction 3
1-2 Geological Information of Akkas Field 4
1-3 Reservoir Data of Akkas Field 5
1-4 Gas Specifications of Akkas Field 7
1-5 Condensates Specifications of Akkas Field 9
1-6 Wells Drilling, Completion and Connection 10
1-7 Environmental Conditions of Akkas Field 11
1-8 Infrastructures Close to Akkas Field 12

Section Two
Development of Akkas Field
Development of Akkas Field to Produce 50 MMscf/d of
2-1 16
Natural Gas
Development of Akkas Field to Produce 100 MMscf/d of
2-1 17
Natural Gas
Development of Akkas field to Produce 300 or 500
2-3 25
MMscf/d of Natural Gas
The Possibility of Building a GTL Project in Akkas Gas
2-4 27
Field
References 31
The Author 32

1
 Summary
Iraq is one of the Arab countries that owns huge natural gas resources.
The Iraqi natural gas reserves consist of 110 Tcf of proven natural gas, and
350 Tcf of potential natural gas. About 70% of Iraq's gas reserves are
associated gas (gas produced in conjunction with oil), with the rest up of
non-associated gas (20%), and dome gas (10%).
Iraq's primary sources of associated gas in the north are the Kirkuk,
Ain-Zalah, Butma, and Bai-Hassan. The oil fields in the south which
produce associated natural gas are the North & South Rumaila, as well as
Zubair fields. About 70% of Iraq's associated gas production capacity is
located in the southern part of the country. The Iraqi non-associated (free)
natural gas fields occur mainly in the north region, with an estimated total
content of about 9.5 Tcf (300 Bcm). The fields of this region comprise Al-
Anfal (1.8 Tcf), Chemchemal (2.1 Tcf), Jeria Pika (0.9 Tcf), Khashim
Al-Ahmar (1.4 Tcf), and Mansuriyah (3.3 Tcf). The only free natural gas
field that occurs in the south territories is Siba (60 Bcm) gas field, which is
located in Shat al-Arab coasts near the Iraqi-Iranian border.

In November 2001, a large non-associated natural gas field reportedly

was discovered in the North West region of Iraq (Akkas region), near the
border with Syria. The field which is named Akkas (Saladin) gas field is
considered as one of the giant gas fields in Iraq. It contains around 4.5 Tcf
proved reserve of natural gas. It is also thought that most of the Iraqi
undiscovered reserves are located in the western territories of Iraq.
Although, many new studies have pointed out that this region has many
geological structures which may have high hydrocarbon contents, it still
has not been explored enough, except Akkas natural gas field.
Iraq is keen for exploiting its huge natural gas reserves, to fulfill the
domestic demands, and to export considerable amounts to the international
markets to provide new source of income for the country. One of the
available options to invest in this sector is the development of Akkas gas
field. The Iraqi Ministry of Oil has prepared many studies proposing
possible scenarios to develop this field in the conventional ways. Any
development plan will depend of course on the production capacity of the
field. In addition to the conventional development plans for this field, there
is also an opportunity to develop the field by building a Gas to Liquids
(GTL) project which is also considered briefly as an option in this study.

The Author*
*Wisam Al-Shalchi – Petroleum Expert, Email: wisamalshalchi@yahoo.com

2
 Section One
Akkas Gas Field
1-1 Introduction:
Akkas (Saladin) gas field is located in the North West region of Iraq
near the Iraqi – Syrian borders. It is located at a distance of 52 km far
away from (T1) pumping station, and 285 km from (K3) pump station. The
distance between this field and Baji town, where the entire Iraqi gas grid
passes, is around 300 km. The nearest industrial complex to this field is the
Al-Qaim Industrial complexes which consists of a fertilizer plant &
cement plant and located at a distance of less than 40 km from it.
Akkas gas field is one of the giant fields in Iraq. It contains around 5.68
Tcf (160 Bcm) of potential reserve of natural gas and 4.55 Tcf (130 Bcm)
of proved reserve. The first vertical exploratory well (SA-1) was drilled in
this field in 25th August, 1992. The drilling was supposed to reach a depth
of 5000 m, but this was not achieved due to technical difficulties. The
drilling operations in this reached a depth of 4238 m well and it confirmed
the presence of natural gas with a flow out of around 6-8 MMscf/d. In
2001 the development of Saladin gas field was referred to the Syrian
Petroleum Company (SPI), according to the "Combined Cooperation
Deal" signed between Iraq and Syria. The company started its operations
in the western region of Iraq in 15th August 2001. The operations consist of
horizontal drilling of 5 new wells, as well as the workover of the
previously drilled well (SA-1) by drilling it again horizontally.

Figure (1-1): The location of Akkas (Saladin) gas field.

3
The explorations made by the company were ended in mid 2002 after
completing the drilling of the following wells:
(a) Work over of (SA-1) well which was completed in April 2002.
(b) Drilling of (SA-2) well which was completed in April 2002.
(c) Drilling of (SA-3) well which was completed in March 2002.
(d) Drilling of (SA-4) well which was completed in March 2002.
(e) Drilling of (SA-5) well which was completed in June 2002.
(f) Drilling of (SA-6) well which was completed in June 2002.

Figure (1-2): The drilled wells in Akkas Field.

1-2 Geological Information of Akkas Field:

Akkas gas field consists of three geological formations, these are:

(a) Ora Kaista Pirispiki Formation:

This formation is composed of successive layers of Sand Stone, compact
Shale layer of low and medium porosity followed by Dolomite and Lime
Stone layers. The laboratory tests of the layers of this formation made
during the drilling of (SA-1) well proved that it contains reservoir water of
no oil traces in the region (1365 – 1424 m). The pressure development test
of the investigated sections proved that this formation in general is
characterized with high porosity.

4
(b) Akkas Formation:
It consists of successive layers of Sand Stone and compact Shale layer of
low porosity. The results of the laboratory tests of this formation made
during the drilling of the well (SA-1) proved that light oil of a density
0.8326 gm/cm3 exists in the region (1993-2002m). On the other hand the
layer tests made in the well (SA-4) showed that natural gas of Weak
Bubble Flow exists in this region.
(c) Khabour Formation:
This formation is also composed of Sand Stone and compact Shale layer
of low porosity. The results of the layer tests in this formation proved that
many natural gas accumulations exist in regions between (2332 – 2360 m)
deep for SA-1 well, (2365 – 2375.5 m) deep for SA-2 and (2341 -2355 m)
deep for SA-3. The specific gravity of the tested gas were (0.726 –
0.6953), and for the condensates was 0.7792.

Figure (1-3): Geological formations of Akkas gas field.

1-3 Reservoir Data of Akkas Field:

The field explorations data of Akkas field obtained from the drilling of
six exploratory wells gave the following information:

(a) Gas content of the field:

1) Estimated natural gas content: 5.680 Tcf
2) Proved natural gas content: 4.550 Tcf

5
(b) Capacities of production from Akkas field:
1) 50 MMscf/d from the already existing six drilled wells.
2) 100 MMscf/d from 10 wells.
3) 300 MMscf/d from 30 wells.
4) 500 MMscf/d from 50 wells.

(c) Production test results of Khabour formation:

The following results are the summarized characters of Khabour formation
obtained from the tests made in (SA-1) well:
1) Reservoir pressure: 3720 lb/in2
2) Standard depth: 2295 m from the rotating drill string (13412.6 LSDf)
3) Reservoir temperature: 210o F
4) Porosity Average: 3%
5) Width of the investigated layer: 60 m (197 ft)
6) Liquids percentage: 28 bbl/MMscf
7) Density of condensates: 50 API degree
8) Gas specific gravity: 0.726
9) Closing pressure at the well head: 3000 lb/in2
10) Viscosity of the reservoir gas: 0.023527 centipoises
11) Gas/fluid proportion: 93556.8 scf/bbl
12) Thermal measurements made during the drilling of SA-1 well
showed that the value of the Thermal Factor varies among (1.099–
2.85 oF/100 ft) and its value depends on the layer depth. Other
separated thermal tests were found to be as shown below:

Depth, Average
Region Thermal Factors
m Temperature, oF
4040 - 327.5 -
3750 - 297.5 -
3632 - 288.7 -
3557 - 285.3 -
3360 - 275.2 -
2661.5 - 240 -
2395.5 2362-2397 225 2.27
2349.5 2328-2351 205 2.85
2025 2026-1998 165 2.25
- 1735-1752 165 2.25
- 1365-1424 160 1.49
- 1068- and above 140 1.10

Table (1-1): Hierarchy of the thermal factor with the drilling depth in
SA-1 well.

6
Excluding the results obtained from the well SA-1, the results obtained
from the layers tests made on the other drilled wells showed that it is
difficult to obtain an exact reservoir information which enable to evaluate
the reservoir. The reservoir pressure evaluation obtained by acidizing the
formation in both the vertically and horizontally drilled well SA-1 showed
high average production levels. On the other hand, the results of similar
tests made on SA-2 well showed declining of the reservoir pressure as well
as the production levels with the period of the testing due to the method of
the well completion. The results obtained from the tests of the vertical
section of SA-3 well were similar to those of SA-1 well, but when the
drilling became horizontal it gave higher production levels, but the
reservoir pressure couldn’t be measured due to technical problems. The
results of SA-4 well showed low production levels compared with the
wells SA-1 and SA-3. The well SA-5 tests showed only the flowing of
reservoir water. Therefore, the surface production of the wells were
estimated in general according to the test results obtained from the well
SA-1 which means that it is necessary to make more future hydraulic
calculations to determine the wells production behavior and the surface
pressure values at the separation station.

1-4 Gas Specifications of Akkas Field:

a- Free Gas Specifications:
No enough information available about the quality and specifications of
the gas produced from the Khabour formation. Several gas samples were
taken from the wells SA-1, SA-2 and SA-3 and sent for analysis. The main
results considered were those obtained from analyzing the gas samples of
the well SA-1 taken from the region (2332-2360 m) of the rotating drill
string because it contains the highest proportions of heavy hydrocarbons.
Surface samples of the wells SA-2 and SA-3 were also taken and analyzed
in Syria but the results were short of very important information like the
sampling temperature, sampling pressure and amount of liquids produced.
This shortage necessitated making a recombination with the results
obtained from the analysis of the gas and condensates produced from the
separator, as shown in the following table:

1 2 3 4 5 6
Liquid Gas (5/Sum)
Comp. Liq* 2.265 Gas* 83.6 3-4
% mole % mole *100
N2 0 0 0 0 0 0
C1 0 82.973 0 6937.89 6947.89 80.5299
C2 1.18 9.18 2.6728 767.597 770.27 8.9407
CO2 0.04 2.13 0.0906 178.103 178.193 2.0683

7
 C3 3.9 3.36 8.8338 250.951 289.784 3.3636
i-C4 1.12 0.36 2.5369 30.1015 32.6387 0.3788
n-C4 5.53 0.87 12.5259 72.7461 85.272 0.9898
i-C5 3.74 0.2 8.4714 16.7232 25.1946 0.2924
n-C5 5.84 0.23 13.2280 19.2317 32.4598 0.3768
n-C6 14.73 0.3 33.3646 25.0849 58.4494 0.6784
n-C7 19.64 0.28 44.4861 33.4125 67.8956 0.7881
n-C8 14.59 0.25 33.0475 20.9041 53.9515 0.6262
n-C9 12.48 0.2 28.2651 16.7232 44.9914 0.5222
n-C10 5.36 0 12.1408 0 12.1408 0.1409
n-C11 11.55 0 26.1616 0 26.1615 0.3037
Total 99.7 100.353 230.3581 8389.4685 8615.3 99.9998
* 2.265= Mole of liquid / bbl for separation liquid
* 83.6= Mole of gas.
Table (1-2): Results obtained from analyzing samples taken from
Akkas drilled wells.
The compositions and specifications of the free gas for SA-1 & SA-2 wells
are as shown in the following table:

SA-1
Component SA-2
(2332-2360m)
N2 1.54 0
C1 80.49 80.5299
C2 8.92 8.9407
CO2 2.2 2.0683
H2S - -
C3 3.54 3.3636
I-C4 0.4 0.3788
n-C4 1.0 0.9898
i-C5 0.35 0.2924
n-C5 0.41 0.3768
C6 0.54 0.6784
C7 0.39 0.7881
C8 0.22 1.593
Specific Gravity 0.726 0.787
Density 15.5, 1AT-G/L 0.89 -
Molecular Weight 21.02 22.811
Heating Value Kcal/m3 - Gross: 10702 -
Net: 9700 -

Table (1-3): Specifications of the free gas from the wells SA-1 & SA-2.

8
Notes:
• One of the samples of the well SA-1 taken after the second acidizing
process of the above region showed a presence of H2S gas in a
proportion of 1.09 ppm, the thing which was not obtained similarly
with the samples taken from the wells SA-2 and SA-3. This matter
necessitates making more precise tests on the well head gas to confirm
this result and to be assured of the H2S content of free gas.
• The highest accepted molar proportion of CO2 content in the gas is 3%.

b- Reservoir Gas Specifications:

The following table shows the specifications of the reservoir gas:

Pressure PSI Z-Factor Viscosity CP

400 0.960 0.014
800 0.925 0.014
1200 0.895 0.015
1600 0.873 0.016
2000 0.859 0.017
2400 0.855 0.019
2800 0.850 0.020
3200 0.871 0.021
3600 0.890 0.023
4000 0.914 0.024

Table (1-4): Specifications of the reservoir gas.

1-5 Condensates Specifications of Akkas Field:

The condensates analysis of the samples taken from the wells SA-1,
SA-2 and SA-3 gave the following results:

Specifications SA-1 SA-2 SA-3

Specific Gravity 0.779 0.7538 0.7448
Water Content (% by volume) 0.2 Nil Nil
Sulphur Content (% by weight) 0.06 0.0163 0.0131
Asphalt Content Nil Trace Nil
Pour Point (oF) - 30 - 45 - 45
Kinematics Viscosity (Cst) at:
80 oF 1.52 0.98 1.016
100 oF 1.27 0.82 0.941
120 oF 1.08 0.75 0.876

Table (1-5): Specifications of the condensates.

9
1-6 Wells Drilling, Completion and Connection:
a- Drilling & completion of new wells:
The horizontal drilling of new wells in Akkas field can be implemented by
using:
1) 20" casing (steel tubing) till 400 m deep.
2) 13 3/8" casing till 1100 m deep.
3) 9 5/8" casing till 2000 m deep.
4) The horizontal drilling starts at 2100 m deep using 8 1/2" casing till
3000 m with a total vertical depth of 2380 m.
5) Using 7" gimleted casing in the horizontal section
6) The production pipe will be 3 1/2" to a depth of 2150 m.

The vertical drillings can be completed by using 7" casing and 4.5"
production pipes.

b- Wells connection:
The hydraulic calculations of Akkas wells showed that the flow pressure is
lost through the surface pipelines assuming that:
1) The flow pressure at the well heads are 2015, 1515, 1015 lb/in2.
2) The diameter of the surface flow pipes are 8" and 6".
3) The length of the flow pipe is 15- 20 km of 8" diameter and 5-8 km
of 6" diameter.
4) The diameters of the flow controller openings are 1/2", 1"and 2/3".
5) Average flow: 1-30 MMscf/d/well.

c- Wells tests:
The available well tests of the already drilled wells in Akkas field are as
following:
1) SA-1 well (Vertical): The average production of the well is 7.37
MMscf/d with a flow pressure at the well head equal to 500-600
lb/in2 with a controller opening of 1". The well is turned now into a
horizontal well with a production capacity of 34.6 MMscf/d and
flow pressure at the well head of 2870 lb/in2 when the controller
opening is 3.4". The production capacity became 17.3 MMscf/d
when the flow pressure is 3045 lb/in2 and the controller opening is
1/2".
2) SA-2 well (Horizontal): The results obtained from this well are not
reliable.
3) SA-3 well (Vertical): The average production of this well is 4
MMscf/d with a flow pressure at the well head of 800 lb/in2 with a
controller opening of 1/2".

10
 4) SA-4 well (Horizontal): The production capacity is 15.8 MMscf/d
with a flow pressure of 1530 lb/in2 for a controller opening of 1/2".
The production became 29.8 with a flow pressure of 925 lb/in2 for a
controller opening of 1".
5) SA-5 well (Horizontal): It produced only water.
6) SA-6 well (Horizontal): The production capacity is 2.4 MMscf/d
with a flow pressure of 1530 lb/in2 and a controller opening of 1/4".
The production became 2.9 MMscf/d when the flow pressure
becomes 925 lb/in2 with a controller opening of 64/24".

d) Conclusions:
From the above results the following conclusions can be reached:
1) The results of the vertical wells are consistent with each others.
2) For the horizontal wells only the results of the wells SA-1, SA-3 and
SA-4 are available, and they are too optimistic about the capacity of
productions except the results of the well SA-4.
3) It is difficult to rely on these results which mean that more reservoir
tests must be made on the wells for studying and comparison.
Therefore, it is proposed for the time being that the average production
capacity of the existing wells is 10 MMscf/d/well with a flow pressure of
2800 lb/in2 when the controller opening diameter is 1/2", and an average
production of 25 MMscf/d/well for a flow pressure of 2000 lb/in2 and
controller opening of 1" diameter. To maintain the temperature of the
produced gas it is necessary to bury the flow pipes at a depth of 1 m under
the surface after protecting it by coating and cathodic protection. The
pressure of the gas at the treatment plant must be reduced to reach 1100
lb/in2 and temperature of 85 oF for a production capacity 10 – 25 MMscf/d.

1-7 Environmental Conditions of Akkas Field:

a- Ambient Temperature (in Dark): 55 oC in summer, -10 oC in winter.
b- Design Temperature of equipments: 82 oC (under sun).
c- Dominate winds direction: North-West / South-East.
d- Winds velocity: 165 km/hr.
e- Relative humidity: 10% (min.), 100% (max.).
f- Average rain falling: 258 mm/year.
g- Soil Temperature in 1 m deep: 26.7 oC in summer, 12 oC in winter.
h- Earth quake: rare
i- Average heat conductivity: 12 Kcal/hr.m2.oC (for buried pipes).

11
1-8 Infrastructures Close to Akkas Field:
Akkas gas field is located in the western desert of Iraq. In order to put
suitable plans to develop the field it is very important to have an idea about
the infrastructure available close to the field. There are many industrial
complexes and residential aggregations in the region which are located not
very far from the field and contain very important infrastructure
establishments.
a- Al-Qaim City:
Al-Qaim is a town located nearly 400 km north-west of Baghdad and few
kilometers from the Iraqi-Syrian border and situated along the east bank of
the river Euphrates. It is the center of Al-Qaim district which belongs to
Anbar governorate and has a population of about 170,000 persons. As a
relatively big city, Al-Qaim has its own normal infrastructure like water
treatment station, electricity transforming station, hospital and railways
station …etc. The main road which connect Haddithah city with the Syrian
Albu-Kamal city passes also through Al-Qaim and Qusaybah cities. Not
very far away from Al-Qaim city there is an industrial complex which
contains a cement factory, fertilizers factory, destroyed uranium extraction
factory, electricity transforming station and railways station. This
industrial complex is located at a distance of about 40 km from the center
of Akkas gas field.

b- (T1) Pumping Station:

(T1) is a crude oil pumping station of the old Iraq-Syria oil pipeline which
transports oil from the north Iraqi oil fields (from Kirkuk governorate) to
the Syrian exporting port Baniyas. (T1) is located at about 320 km (200
mile) north-east of the Jordanian border. According to the old Jordan-Iraq
protocols, oil was delivered by pipeline to the (T1) pumping station, where
it was then loaded onto trucks for transportation by road to Jordan. Akkas
field is located at a distance of 52 km south west of (T1) pumping station.
(T1) pumping station consists of three huge oil pumps, storing tanks,
electricity transforming station and a residential complex.

12
 Figure (1-4): Picture of Akkas Field and Ti Pumping Station.

c- National Electricity Grid:

There is a main hydroelectricity generation station located at Haddithah
city. From this station there is an electric high voltage line of 400 kV to
Al-Qaim city passing through the industrial complex near Al-Qaim. This
high voltage line branches at Al-Qaim city into three subsidiary lines one
goes to Rawah city north east of Al-Qaim, one goes to Qusaybah city near
the border while the third one goes to Akashat mining complex. The later
line passes at about 40 km distance from Akkas field. The main
transforming station which transforms the high voltage (400 kV) to the
normal voltage (220 kV) is located at Al-Qaim industrial complex at about
40 km from Akkas field.

13
Figure (1-5): The electricity grid in the middle and north parts of Iraq.

d- Roads and Railways:

(1) The main road which connect Haddithah city with Albu-Kamal
Syrian city and passes through Al Qaim and Qusaybah cities passes also
at about 50 km distance north Akkas gas field. A subsidiary road
branches from this main road to the industrial complex reaches a
distance of about 40 km from Akkas field. On the other hand, the main
road between Al Qaim city and Akashat mining complex passes also at
about 40 km west of Akkas gas field.
(2) There is a main railways line between Baghdad and Al-Qaim city of
about 516 km long which also passes through Al-Ramadi city (Capital
of Anbar Governorate). This line also passes in its way through Al-
Qaim industrial complex at about 40 km from Akkas field. This line
branches at the industrial complex into two lines one goes to Al-Qaim
and then to Qusaybah cities while the other goes to Akashat mining
complex and passes at about 30 km west of Akkas gas field.

14
 Figure (1-6) Roads and railways which pass near Akkas gas field.

15
 Section Two
Development of Akkas Field
There are many possible scenarios to develop Akkas gas field. Any
development plan depends on the gas production capacity of the field. It is
also necessary to construct road networks to connect the field and its new
establishments with the main roads in the region. The following
development plans were put according to the expected production
capacities of the field:

2-1 Development of Akkas Field to Produce 50

MMscf/d of Natural Gas:
This production capacity means that only the existing five drilled & gas
producing wells will be considered. The best plan to develop Akkas gas
field with this production capacity is by building a power generation plant.
Such a plant and its supplements (the switchyard, transmission
interconnection …etc) can be built in the field site, and then be connected
with the country grid by a 40 km long high voltage line to the
transforming station in Al-Qaim industrial complex and then to (T1)
pumping station. The potential power generation of this power plant could
be around 225 MW.

Figure (2-1): Development of Akkas gas field by building 225 MW

power generation plant in the field site

16
The development of Akkas field by this plan will require the following
equipments:
a- Slug catcher.
b- Small treatment plant to separate the water, acidic gases if existing
and the condensates from the gas.
The condensates can be transported by trucks from the field to (T1)
pumping station where it can be pumped to other places for local uses.

2-1 Development of Akkas Field to Produce 100

MMscf/d of Natural Gas:
This production capacity necessitates the drilling of 4 additional vertical
wells and working over the already existing 6 horizontal wells so that the
total number of gas producing well will be (8-10). At this production
capacity, it is possible to develop Akkas gas field by one of the following
two plans:
a- Building big treatment plant in the field site:
In this plan the produced natural gas is mainly treated in the field site and
then the produced dry natural gas is transported by a new (52 km x 20")
pipeline to (T1) pumping station and from there to Haddithah (K3), where
the country gas pipelines network passes. The LPG can be transported
from the plant to the local markets either by trucks, or by building a 285
km pipeline from the treatment unit in the field to the country LPG
network in (K2) pumping station. The NGL products (condensates) can be
exported to other countries by transported it from the treatment unit by a
(40 km x 6") pipeline to a connection point with the old Iraq-Syria oil
pipeline, or by building a new pipeline for this purpose.
The treatment plant in the field site must consist of two assemblages
one for production and the other for testing with all connection
requirements such as pipes, valves and other accessories. These two
assemblages should contain number of connection points which enable the
connection of the production wells (not less than 8 wells) together, as well
as 15% more connection points for the future. These two assemblages
must be designed according to the head wells pressure at the time of
closing (which is about 3000 llb/in2), and must be capable for future
extension to contain any increasing in the field production in the following
stages of development.

17
 Figure (2-2): Development of Akkas field by building a treatment
plant in the field site
(1) Production and Test Lines: It is necessary to install a production
line of 100 MMscf/d and a test line of 50 MMscf/d. These two lines
should consist of the following equipments:
• High pressure heater for production.
• High pressure heater for testing.
• Special equipments to reduce the pressure to 1050 llb/in2.
• Three phases production separator.
• Three phases testing separator.
• Gathering system to collect the natural gas from the production &
testing separators.
• Internal connection pipeline network for gases and condensates as
well as pipeline to transport the separated water to the evaporation pit.
(2) Treatment Line: In order to achieve 100 MMscf/d production of dry
natural gas from the field and transport it to the national gas network it is
necessary to treat this gas before transportation. This task can be reached
by building a gas treatment plant consisting of the following units:
• Gas Drying Unit (T.E.G. Unit) of 120 MMscf/d capacity, with a
special system to supply & circulate the Glycole used for drying.
• Two filters (Pre/Post filters), one must be installed before the drying
tower while the other is installed after it.

18
 • Cooling system to recover the natural gas liquids (NGL) in order to
produce standard dry natural gas. The following two options can be
used:
o Turbo-Expander cooling unit: Consists of the following parts:

Turbine to reduce the inlet gas pressure to 350 lb/in2

Low temperature separator to separate and collect the natural gas
liquids (NGL).

Compressor to increase the outlet gas pressure to 900 lb/in2. The
gas must be cooled after the compressor from 135 oF to 100 oF
by using Air Cooler.

Small compressor of small capacity to increase the produced dry
gas to 1100 l lb/in2 so that it can be injected in the country gas
grid under the pressure 1050 lb/in2.
o Throattling gas cooler: In this unit propane is used for cooling
which can be obtained from the produced natural gas by a small
distillation & extraction unit.
• De-ethanizer Unit: This unit is used to extract the dry gas from the
natural gas liquids (NGL). The extracted gas from this unit is mixed
with the dry natural gas produced from the above cooling system.
• 52 x 20" pipeline of a capacity of 100 MMscf/d to transfer the dry
natural gas to the country gas grid.
• LPG & C5+ Recovery unit.
• Two spherical type tanks (Horton Spheres): of a volume of 100 m3
and pressure of 200 lb/in2 each to store the produced gas.
• Two cylindrical tanks to store the natural gas liquids (NGL).
• 285 km x 6" pipeline to transport the LPG to a connection point with
the country 14" LPG pipeline in (K2) pumping station.
• Two pumps (one working and one standby) to pump the LPG through
the 285 km x 6" pipeline to (K2) pumping station.
• Dry natural gas flow measuring instrument.
• Dew point measuring instrument.
(3) Condensates Recovering System: This system consists of the
following parts:
• System for collecting the (NGL) from the production and testing
separators.
• Pressure reducer.
• Low pressure heater.
• Three phases condensates separator.
• Two spherical type tank of 500 m3 capacity to collect 950 bbl/d of
condensates from the separator and 900 bbl/d from the LPG unit. The
vapor pressure of the condensates in the tank is assumed to be not

19
 more than (RVP= 12 Psia) which make it allowable to be mixed with
the exported oil in the Iraqi-Syrian oil pipeline. The condensates can
be disposed by the following two options:
o Using an 18 km x 6" pipeline to transport the condensates to a
connection point in the Iraqi-Syrian oil exporting pipeline. This
option needs also two main pumps (one working & one standby),
and two auxiliary pumps (one working & one standby). :
o Using a 52 km x 6" pipeline to transport the condensates to the
tanks in (T1) pumping station.
• The gas produced from the separator (not more than 0.6 MMscf/d) is
either flared or re-compressed with gas entering the dryer.
(4) The test system: This system consists of the following parts:
• Testing system to collect the condensates from the testing separator.
• Low pressure heater.
• Pressure reducing equipments.
• Three phases separator of the following specifications:
• One spherical type tank of 80 m3 capacity to store the condensates.
• Two pumps (one working & one standby) to inject the condensates
from the testing tank to the spherical condensates tank of the
following specifications:
• The gas produced from the system condensates recovering unit
(which is not more than 1 MMscf/d) is either sent to the flaring
system or can be used by the different units of the plant.
(5) Gas Transporting System: The gas is transported from the
treatment plant by a (52 km x 20") pipeline to a connection pint at the
gas pipeline arriving at (T1) pumping station of flow pressure equal to
1050 lb/in2 at the point of connection. The new constructed pipeline is
designed to transport 200 MMscf/d to be capable to transport any extra
gas produced from future extension. The gas is pumped by using a
Turbo-Expander compressor after the cooling system, or by using a
Throaltling Unit. The pipeline must be furnished with (Pigging Traps
Launcher & Receiver) at the beginning and end of the pipe.

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 Figure (2-3): The gas treatment plant at Akkas field site.

b- Treating the produced gas in T1 pumping station:

In this option the natural gas is collected from the producing wells in the
field, and sent it to a high pressure heater to separate the water and the
natural gas liquids (NGL). The collected natural gas can then be
transported by a new (52 km x 20") pipeline to (T1) site, where a big
treatment unit will be built to treat the gas.

21
 Figure (2-4): Development of Akkas field by building gas
treatment plant at T1 Pumping station site.
(1) The partial treatment plant at the field site: This unit must consist
of two assemblages one for production and the other for testing with all
connection requirements such as valves and other accessories. These two
assemblages should contain number of connection points which enable
the connection of the production wells (not less than 8 wells) as well as
more 15% connection point for future. These two assemblages must be
designed according to the head wells pressure at closing which is not less
than 3000 llb/in2.

• The Production line: This line must be of 100 MMscf/d capacity and
consists of the following parts:
o High pressure heater.
o Anti corrosion inhibitor injector.
o (52 km x 20") Pipeline to transfer the natural gas to (T1) Site.

• Testing Skid: This line must be of 50 MMscf/d capacity and consists

of the following equipments:
o High pressure heater.
o Three phases test separator.
o Low pressure heater.
o Pressure measuring instruments.
o Three phases condensates separator.
o Spherical type tank of 50 m3 capacity.

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 o The condensates are disposed to the evaporating pit while the
gases are connected with a flaring system or can be used for the
unit consumption.

(2) The complete treatment plant at (T1) Site: This complete treatment
unit must consist of the following parts:
• The production line: It should be of 50 MMscf/d capacity and
consists of the following equipments:
o High pressure heater.
o Pressure reducing equipments.
o Three phases gas production separator.
o Internal connection pipeline networks.
• The treatment line: This should be of 100 MMscf/d capacity and
consists of the following parts:
o Gas drying unit (T.E.G. Unit) with Glycole supplying &
circulating system.
o Pre & Post filters.
o Cooling tower to separate C3+ compounds which could be of
the Turbo-Expander Unit type or the Throalttling Unit type.
o De-ethanizer Unit.
o LPG recovery unit.
o (233 km x 6") to transport the LPG to a connection point with
country LPG pipeline at (K2) pumping station.
o Two pumps (one working & one standby) to pump the LPG to
(K2) site.
o Dry gas metering unit.
o Dew point analyzer.
(3) Condensates recovering & gathering system: This system consists
of the following parts:
• Equipment to gather the condensates from the production
separator and the test separator.
• Pressure reducing equipment.
• Low pressure heater.
• Three phases condensates separator.
• 950 bbl/d of condensates produced form the separator and 900
bbl/d of condensates produced from the LPG unit are mixed
with the crude oil exported by the Iraqi-Syrian oil pipeline.
• The gas produced from the separator which will be around 0.6
MMscf/d is sent to the flaring system or can be used for the
unit consumption.

23
 (4) Gas transporting system: The dry gas produced from the treatment
plant which will be of 100 MMscf/d capacity is compressed in the
dry gas pipeline reaching (T1) pumping station.

Figure (2-5): The gas treatment plant at T1 pumping Station site.

c- Supporting Facilities:
The following supporting facilities must be built in the field site if a gas
treatment plant is decided to be built there:

24
 (1) Electrical System: Two electricity generating station (one working
and one standby) of 8 MW and 11000 V must be built in the field site
to feed the treatment unit with its needs of electricity.
(2) Cathodic protection system:
(3) Communication system: of the following parts:
• Transmission system.
• Switching distribution system.
(6) Control system: of the following parts:
• Digital distribution control system.
• Simplified scada system.
• Mimic Panel.
(6) Compressed air system.
(7) Drainage system.
(8) Fire fighting system.
(9) Portable drinking water system.
(10) Industrial water supply system.
(11) Flare system.
(12) Sewage system.
(13) Civil works: of the following parts:
• Industrial buildings.
• Services buildings.
• Roads.
If the gas treatment plant is decided to be built at (T1) pumping station
then the same above facilities will be also needed with following
differences:
(1) Electricity generation station: Two electricity generating stations
(one working and one standby) of 250 kW and 400 V will be needed
to feed the constructed plant at (T1) pumping station.
(2) Fuel system: An independent fuel tank must be installed to feed the
plant and of enough capacity to operate the plant for 48 hr.

2-3 Development of Akkas field to Produce 300 or 500

MMscf/d of Natural Gas:
To produce 300 MMscf/d of natural gas it is necessary to have about 30
gas producing wells in the field which means that it is necessary to drill 25
wells as well as the existing five producing wells. For such a big amount
of natural gas, field-site-treatment option is the best choice followed by
transporting the produced gas by new pipelines to different directions. A
100 MMscf/day of dry natural gas can be sent to (T1) site by a new 52 km

25
x 20" pipeline to support the local gas network. The rest which will be
around 200 MMscf/d of dry natural gas can be exported to Al Malih site in
Syria where the Syrian gas network ends by a new 99 km x 22" pipeline
(43 km in the Iraqi territories and 56 km in the Syrian territories).

Figure (2-3): Exporting natural gas from Akkas field to Syria

The natural gas can then be transported through the Syrian gas network to
a connection point in the Arab Gas Pipeline to export it to Europe.

Figure (6-8): The Arab Gas Pipeline.

26
 The condensates (C5+) can also be exported either by mixing it with
the exported natural gas, or separately by injecting it in the old Iraq-Syria
oil pipeline. The treatment plant in Akkas field site will not be different
than the unit described above except that the capacities of equipments will
be higher.
For a higher development plans such as producing 500 MMscf/d of
natural gas from Akkas field it is necessary to have about 50 gas producing
wells. The methods of treatment and ways of dealing with the products
will not be different than the methods described above.

2-4 The Possibility of Building a GTL Project in Akkas

Gas Field:
Presently, Iraq is suffering from shortages of the treated natural gas.
The reason of this shortage is due to low production of natural gas on one
hand, and low production capacities of the north and south treatment
projects on the other. Iraq is also suffering at the present time from very
big shortages in the electrical power generation and delivery. This shortage
is referred to several reasons, political and technical. A considerable
percentage of electrical power currently generated in Iraq is produced by
burning various liquid fuels including diesel oils, heavy and residual oil.
This reliance on liquid fuels results in loss of oil sales revenue in addition
to shortages and delivery problems throughout the country. The rising
electrical demand in Iraq will create pressure on the electric production,
transmission capacity, and fuel production and delivery infrastructure. For
this reason natural gas is being considered for use in new electric power
generation. Therefore, the electricity generation sector is expected to
absorb any rising in the production of natural gas in the future. This
situation will continue until the mid of the coming decade, but things may
change after 2020, especially if serious developments of the free natural
gas fields take place.
Iraq also suffers from huge shortages in the production of petroleum
products, especially the light and middle distillates. These shortages are
due to the low production capacity of the old fashioned Iraqi petroleum
refiners. These shortages are expected to continue until 2025. For example,
in 2020 Iraq will need at least 110,000 m3/day (695,000 bbl/day) of light
and middle distillates, while the local refiners are not expected to produce
at that time more than a 60,000 m3/day (380,000 bbl/day). The difference
(50,000 m3/day or 315,000 bbl/day) could be covered in several ways like
importing, building at least two new big oil refiners, or investing some of
the natural gas by building a Gas to liquid (GTL) project.

27
 The building of a Gas to Liquids (GTL) project in Iraq is practicably
possible, but this is not expected to take place in the near future due to the
shortage in the natural gas production. The quantity of the produced
associated and free natural gas at the present time and in the seen future
will be used mainly to feedstock the existing power plants, and to produce
the LPG which the country also needs most. By the end of the coming
decade, things will be changed, and an excess in the availability of natural
gas is expected to take place. Nevertheless, the expected extra quantity of
the natural gas will be also used to feed new power stations which will be
built in the future. Even if an unused quantity of natural gas will be
available then, no intension to invest this quantity of gas in a GTL project
is anticipated. The thought of investing in the Gas to Liquids technology
needs lots of thinking and studying, because such an investment is not
beneficial with all of the Iraqi natural gas fields.
Iraq is now burning huge quantities of associated natural gas due to the
lack of the treatment facilities, and this behavior is expected to continue
for the next ten years. Despite that this action is a wasting of a fortune; it
also damages the environment very badly. But, after the invention of small
and mobile GTL plants, installed in any place easily, it becomes possible
to buy or even hire such plants and industrialize the flared gas by the GTL
technology. This development will save a big fortune to Iraq, as well as
protecting the local and the global environment from the harms which the
flaring of the gas causes. It will also provide the country during the coming
years with millions of barrels of high quality light and middle petroleum
products.
To build a GTL project in any place, there are some requirements and
conditions which must be available. One of the most important conditions
in this direction is that the natural gas field must be remote or stranded.
Most of the Iraqi natural gas fields, whether they produce associated or
non-associated natural gas, are not remote fields because they are located
not far from the treatment factories, or the country gas pipeline network.
This situation makes things more likely to invest the natural gas in the
traditional ways rather than building a GTL projects. The only exception
from this is the Akkas natural gas field because it is located in a remote
area and very far from the consuming markets. This condition makes the
field very suitable to be invested by a GTL technology. In addition to the
conventional development plans described above, it is possible also to
develop the field by building a GTL project. To build a reasonable GTL
plant in Akkas field, then its production capacity must be at least 350
MMscf/day, i.e. some 35 gas producing wells must be drilled in the field.
This production capacity will be suitable to build a 35,000 bbl/day GTL

28
plant similar to Oryx project which is built recently in Qatar by Sasol
Company. The project will also need a complete gas treatment unit to
produce dry natural gas, which is then feedstocked to the GTL plant.

Figure (6-9): Flow diagram of a proposed GTL plant for the

development of Akkas field.

The place of the treatment unit must be near the place of which the
GTL plant will be built on. It was mentioned above that for such a
production capacity of the field it is better to build the treatment plant in
the field site. This fact is true if the produced gas is going to be exported,
but in case of investing the gas by a GTL project it is better to build an
industrial complex combining both the treatment and the GTL plants in
(T1) site for the following reasons:

a- The old Iraq-Syria oil pipeline passes through the same place which
can be used after rehabilitation to export the synthetic crude oil.
b- The high voltage electrical line (400 kv) which feeds Al-Qaim
industrial complex with power passes through the same place.
c- The two plants as well as the other facilities of the station can share
many of the infrastructures which they all need.
d- The same new industrial complex can be used for the same purposes, if
other natural gas fields are discovered in the future in the west region
of Iraq.
The investing of Akkas gas field by a GTL project is profitable to Iraq
for the following reasons:
• The GTL project will produce petroleum products, which the country
needs most for the coming twenty years.
• The high quality petroleum products produced by this project will
help in protecting Iraq's environment which is extremely suffering
from pollution.

29
 • It will be possible to export some of the produced petroleum products
either by using the old Iraqi-Syrian oil pipeline after rehabilitating it,
or by building a new pipeline. This action will provide Iraq with
much-needed extra income to fund the reconstruction projects.
• In case of applying the federal governing system in Iraq, a GTL
project could be the base of establishing a petroleum and natural gas
industry in the north-western region, which might form a federation
government. It will provide the local governorates of this federation
with their needs of petroleum products, as well as employing the
workers of the region. Such a policy will bring, from the political &
economic points of view, some stability for this kind of governing
system.

30
 References
(1) General Development of Akkas Gas Field by: Ban Hamza-Expert,
Hamid Habib-Expert, Yasmine Abdul-Aziz-Chief Engineer, Insaf
Faydhi-Chief Engineer, Adnan Sadam-Engineer.
(2) Gas To Liquids (GTL) Technology by Wisam Al-Shalchi. – 2006
(3) Overview of the Oil Downstream Industry in Iraq / Nabiel N.
Lammoza / Ministry of Oil – Iraq
(4) The Real Image of the Gas Industry in Iraq/Ministry of Oil – Iraq
(5) The Economic Prospects of Using the Natural Gas in the Arab
Countries/ Thamer Abas Ghdhban, Ghazi Mahdi Hayder, Sabah Hadi
Al- Jawhar

31
 The Author
Name: Wisam Al-Shalchi
Date and Place of Birth: Baghdad / Iraq - 1956
Nationality: Iraqi
Place of Residence: Amman – Jordan
Telephone No.: 00962-6-5621049,
Mobile: 00962-785200764
E-mail: wisamalshalchi@yahoo.com
Level of Education:
1) M.Sc. in Petroleum Chemistry - University of Essex / UK
2) B.Sc. in Chemistry- University of Baghdad
Experience:
1) Working as Planning Manager in Al-Qabas Oil Services Co. - Jordan
2) Working as Petroleum Expert in the Directorate of Studies & Planning
& Follow-up – Ministry of Oil / Iraq.
3) Working as Senior Technical Observer in the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP)- Iraq.
4) Working as Head of Oil & Gas Technologies in the Iraqi Oil Institute.
5) Working as Technical Lecturer in the Iraqi Oil Institute - Iraq.
6) Working as Process Engineer at Dora Oil Refinery/ Baghdad – Iraq
7) Working as Process Engineer at Shwaikhat Oil Refinery which belongs
to OMV Petroleum Company/ Vienna – Austria.
Publications:
1) Petroleum Environment Directory – Iraq, 2007
2) Industrial Safety – Iraq, 2007
3) Environment Protection – Iraq, 2006.
4) Instrumental Chemical Analysis – Iraq, 1994.
5) Oil and Gas Technology – Iraq, 1992
Published Researches and Studies:
1) Carbon Capture & Storage - 2008
2) Gas To Liquids Technology (GTL) – 2006 / Won the international
annual prize of the Oapec Organization for the year 2006.
3) Traces analysis in Natural Gas. – 2005
4) Using Natural Gas Derivatives as Fuels for Vehicles – 2005 / Won
appreciation prize from UNEP.
5) Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). – 2004
6) Comprehensive Petroleum Education and Training in Iraq - 1996
7) Development of the Phenolic Plastics prepared in acidic medium –
1990
8) Mechanism of the acid catalysed hydrolysis of esters. - 1988

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