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Impact of crude oil production on the petrochemical industry in

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Article in Energy · August 1991

DOI: 10.1016/0360-5442(91)90141-8

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Energy Vol. 16, No. 8, pp. 1089-1099, 1991 0360~5442/91 $3.00 + 0.00
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved Copyright 0 1991 Pergamon Press plc

Impact of Crude Oil Production on the Petrochemical Industry in Saudi Arabia

M.A. Al-Saleh* , S.O. Duffuaa, M.A. Al-Marhoun, and J.A. Al-Zayer

Chemical Engineering Department

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

(Received 17 August 1990; received for publication 30 May 1991)

Abstract - The gas input into the petrochemical industry in Saudi

Arabia involves mainly methane and ethane as fuels and feedstocks.
These gases are produced from the separation of natural gas into its
components. The majority of the natural gas produced in Saudi Arabia
is as an associated gas. But the associated-gas production is heavily tied
to crude-oil production. The impacts of various oil-production levels
on the availability of methane and ethane have been studied by using a
linear-programming model. With the e istin demand for methane
(1.62~10’ SCFPD) and ethane (2.87~10 ‘s SC ! PD), the minimum oil
production is four million barrels per day. At this level of production,
the methane demand is satisfied while there is an excess of ethane. But
by the substitution of the excess ethane for a part of the methane
demand, the minimum oil production could be reduced to three
million barrels per day. Finally, by utilizin the maximum existing
capacity of unassociated gas (1~10~ SCFP % ) from gas wells, the
minimum oil production level can be reduced to one and one half
million barrels per day. With more exploration and discoveries of
Khuff gas, natural gas production will become even less dependent on
oil production.

1. Introduction
Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia for the first time in 1938 in the Dammam field.’ Since
then, numerous oil fields have been discovered. The estimated proven oil reserves in Saudi Arabia
are 254,989 millions barrels, which constitute the largest reserves in the world (ARAMCO
statistics). This amount equals about 25% of the world’s total reserves. In terms of oil production,
Saudi Arabia is the third largest producing country after the United States and the Soviet Union.
Besides oil, the gas industry is an important sector of the Saudi Arabian national economy.
Reserves of natural gas were officially estimated at the end of 1988 to be 177.294 trillion cubic feet
of gas, including associated and nonassociated gas. Most of the nonassociated gas is produced from
gas wells and is called Khuff gas. A typical Saudi Arabian gas composition is shown in Table 1. Most
of the gas produced is in the form of associated gas and is produced with oil.

Table 1. Typical natural gas compositions in Saudi Arabia

Component Associated Gas2 Khuff Gas3

Methane (CH4) 62.77 69.01

Ethane (C2Hs) 15.07 5.70
Propane (C3Hs) 6.64 2.30
Butane (C,H,,) 2.40 1.21
Pentane and Heavier (C,+) 1.12 0.90
Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) 2.80 5.02
Carbon Dioxide (C02) 9.20 3.46
Nitrogen (N2) 12.40

*To whom CorresDOndence must be sent.

1089
1090 M. A. AL-SALEH et al

As late as 1974, nearly 80% of the total gas produced was flared. This situation started to change
with the growing awareness of the potential importance of natural gas as a fuel and as a feedstock
for the petrochemical industry. Since then, work has been started on the design and construction of
the master gas system, which is used to gather the natural gas associated with oil production and
Khuff gas and process it into various products such as methane, ethane, propane, butane, and
natural gasoline. Methane and ethane are the primary roducts, which are full utilized locally as a
fuel and feedstock for the petrochemical industry. Met Eane, ethane and, to a resser extent, butane
are the essential feedstocks for the petrochemical industries in Saudi Arabia. Since most of the
natural gas produced is an associated gas and is produced with oil, the availability of these
previously mentioned components is tied to the level of oil production. B now, billions of dollars
have been invested in building the huge industrial sectors in Jubail and q anbu. These sectors are
heavily dependent on the availability of methane and ethane as cheap fuels and feedstocks. The
petrochemical industries are expected to be running near design capacity and to be operating
profitably, while yielding good returns on investment. Hence, the continuous and adequate supply
of methane and ethane is essential. Oil production is governed by many factors, such as
international demand and a governmental ceiling. The oil-production level affects the
petrochemical industry directly by controlling the gas supply.
The objective of this paper is to use a linear- rogramming model in order to investigate the
availability of methane and ethane for different oiP-production levels and try to satisfy the local
demand for these important gases. At each level of production, the solution will be optimized by
allocating the oil production to various oil fields, depending on the type of crude needed and the
gas-to-oil ratio. In case a gas shortage occurs, different scenarios should be considered such as
exploring and producing more of the non-associated gas from gas wells, which will decrease the
dependency of the petrochemical industry on oil-production levels.
A number of investigators have used these optimizing techniques based on #near
programming for various industries such as the petroleum and petrochemical industries.4- The
technique has been used for allocation, scheduling, management, and planning of the oil, gas and
petrochemical industr’ s. Graham devised a computerized system to optimize daily oil and gas
reduction in Kuwait.l’ They used linear pro ramming to obtain an optimal production schedule.
!I heir findings have been used by the Kuwait 8 il Company management for a long time.
This paper is organized as follows: Sec. 2 contains a brief description of the master gas
system in Saudi Arabia. Section 3 deals with the local demands for methane and ethane by various
industries. Section 4 contains a discussion of the model and the data used. In Sec. 5, we discuss the
main results obtained. Finally, Sec. 6 deals with the conclusions.
2. The Master Gas System in Saudi Arabia
The master gas system was constructed to gather and process the associated and
nonassociated natural gas to produce methane, ethan ro ane, butane, and natural gasoline. The
total system capacity IS designed to process 3.6x10V CF&D of natural gas. A simplified flow-
process diagram for the master gas system is shown in Fig. 1. The system is made up of the
following three units: the gas-oil separating plants (GOSPS), the gas plants and the fractionation
plants.
-WDROOEN SULFRL ltt2S)- $ULNR

A--
- PROPANE(C,M,,)

GAS GAS
PLANTS - BUTANE ‘C4H,,,

1 OIL ~
SHIPPINO FAClClTlES
FIG. 1 SIMPLIFIED DItiRAM OF THE MASTER GAS SYSTEM IN SAUDI ARABIA.
 Impact of crude oil production on the Saudi petrochemical industry 109 1

2.1. The Gas-Oil Separating Plants

The purpose of the GOSPS is to separate the gas from the oil. The pressure in the well
head may reach 1000 psig, at which most of the gas is dissolved in the oil. The gas-oil separation is
accomplished by reducing the pressure to 50 psig in two or three stages. The gas produced in these
stages is usually rich in methane and ethane. The 50 psig crude oil is pumped to spheroids and the
pressure is further reduced to 3 psig. In the spheroids, the gas produced is rich in propane and
butane. The GOSPS are located in various oil fields in the Kingdom. The total gas produced from
these GOSPS is used partially for gas reinjection while the rest forms the main feed stream for the
master gas system. There are 56 GOSPS located in 19 fields in Saudi Arabia.

2.2. The Gas Plants

The main function of the gas plants is first the sweetening of the natural gas (NC) by
removing carbon dioxide (CO,) and hydrogen sulfide (I%$). The latter is further processed to
produce sulfur. The NG is processed through compresslon and chilling to produce methane,
natural gas liquids (NGL) and ethane streams, as shown in Fig. 1. The main feed streams to the gas
plants are the associated gas separated at the GOSPS and the nonassociated Khuff gas. There are
three gas plants located in different areas to take care of the GOSPS in those areas. These are the
Shedgum gas plant, Uthmaniyah gas plant and Berri gas plant. Both Shedgum agd Uthmaniyah
have capacities of 1.5~10~ SCFPD, while the Berri gas plant has a capacity of 0.6x10 SCFPD.”

2.3. The Fractionation Plants

The ethane and the NGL produced as liquids from Shedgum, Uthmaniyah and Berri gas
plants are routed via a pipeline to the fractionation plants at Ju’aymah and Yanbu for further
fractionation to ethane, propane, butane, and natural gasoline. The Ju’aymah fractionation plant
was designed to process C,+ NGL received from the Uthmaniyah gas plant at the rate of 3.3~10:
barrels per day and to recess C, + NGL received from the Berri gas plant at the rate of 1x10’
barrels per day.” The e anbu fractionation lant is almost identical to the Ju’aymah plant. It was
designed to process 3x10’ barrels per day of 8 2 + NGL received from the Shedgum gas plant.”

3. The Petrochemical Industry in Saudi Arabia

The petrochemical industry is today one of the world’s most important industries.
Petrochemical products affect almost every phase of life. They are essential to all countries.
Petrochemical products have already been substituted for many traditional products.

Saudi Arabia has abundant natural resources, which have not been fully exploited. Besides
oil, NG is an important resource which used to be flared wastefully. With the realization of the
importance of the petrochemical industry, SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corporation) was
initiated to utilize the components of NG as feedstocks for the petrochemical complexes. Making
use of NG products, five huge, ultramodern, methane-based complexes have begun operation in
Jubail. Moreover, three ethane-based plants and one butane-based petrochemical plant have
served to diversify the oil-based economy of Saudi Arabia. Table 2 lists the Saudi Arabian
etrochemical plants in terms of location, feedstock, products, capacity, and starting date. Most of
! audi Arabia’s petrochemicals output will be used for export. In the future, secondary industries
will be built to utilize some of these products locally. Thirty-five billion Saudi riyals have already
been invested in the first group of the petrochemical industries.

3.1. Methane Utilization

Methane is one of the primary products of the master gas system in Saudi Arabia. Methane
is distributed to the Eastern province as dry, sweet gas. The sectors using methane may be classified
in two roups as follows. The first group includes power generation (SCECO), water desalination
(SW& steel plants, aluminum plants, cement factories, and other local users; the second group is
made up mainly of the petrochemical industries (i.e. ARRAZI, IBN SINA, SAMAD, SAFCO, IBN
AL-BAYTAR). The consumption of methane by these groups will now be discussed.

Group I
This group includes the major fuel users. It is characterized by a high degree of flexibility to
use other available liquid fuels in case of methane shortages. The methane demand for the
industries using sweet, dry gas as a fuel is shown in Table 3.

Group II
This roup consists mainly of the primary petrochemical industries at Jubail and employs
methane as ! eedstock. Their requirements for methane will depend on the p{gc&ction level. Usmg
the design capacity of the plants and available information in the literature, methane use for
the petrochemical industries is summarized in Table 4.
1092 M. A. AL-SALEH etal

1.62x109SCFPD. Almost 90% of this demand is for fuel and 10% for feedstock.
3.2. Ethane Utilization
Ethane is used as a feedstock for the etrochemical complexes at Jubail and is also used as a
fuel and feedstock for the complexes in e anbu. The main industries which use ethane as a
feedstock are SADAF (Jubail), Petrokemya (Jubail), and TwET (Yanbu) which reduce
ethylene. Using the design ca acity and literature information, * the ethane d and Por these
complexes is summarized in Tpable 4, which shows a total ethane demand of 2.87x1$n SCFPD.

Table 2. Location of Saudi Arabian petrochemical plants.12

Name of the Locatron Feedstock Product C Starting

Company to:i$i!r Date

Saudi Jubail Ethane Ethylene 656,000 1985

Petrochemical Salt Caustic Soda 377,000
Company (SADAF) Benzene Styrene 295,000
Ethanol 281,000
Ethylene-
dichloride 454,000

Saudi Yanbu Yanbu Ethane Ethylene 450,000 1985

Petrochemical Ethylene-
Company (YANPET) Glycol 220,000
LLPDE 200,000
HDPE 90,000

Al-Jubail Fertilizer Jubail Methane Urea 500,000 1983

Company (SAh4AD)
Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Dammam Methane Urea 330,000 1969
Company (SAFCO) Sulfuric Acid 100,000
Melamine 20,000

Eastern Petrochemical Jubial Ethylene Ethylene- 1985

Company (SHARQ) 1 co1 300,000
&r.DPE 130,000

Arabian Petrochemical Jubail Ethane Ethylene 500,000 1985

Company (PETROKEhfYA) Ethylene-
glycol 150,000

Al-Jubail Petrochemical Jubail Ethylene LLDPE 260,000 1984

Company (KEMYA)

Saudi Methanol Jubail Methane Methanol 600,000 1983

Company (ARRAZI)

National Methanol Jubail Methane Methanol 650,000 1984

Company (IBN SINA)

National Plastics Jubail Ethylene VCM, PVC 500,000 1986

Company (IBN HAYYAN)
Saudi European Jubail Butane MTBE 500,000 1988
Petrochemical Company Methanol Butadiene 124,000
(IBN ZAHR) Ethylene Butene-1 80,000
National Chemical Jubail Methane Amonia 900,000 1988
Fertilizer Company
(IBN AL-BAYTAR)
 Impact of crude oil production on the Saudi petrochemical industry 1093

4. Effects of Varying Oil-Production Ceilings on Methane and Ethane Demands

An optimization model for the oil and gas network was developed and linked to the
etrochemical industry. I8 The objective function of the model is the sum of three cost components.
! he first component is the total operating cost. The second component is a penalty cost for not
meeting the specified production targets of different types of crude. This component of the
objective function aims at producing a balanced mix of the different types of crude (7% extra light,
54% Arabian light, 24% Arabian medium, and 15% Arabian heavy). The third component is a
penalty cost for not meeting the specified methane and ethane demands. In case of oversupply of
methane or ethane, an inventory cost is increased. In case of undersupply of methane or ethane, a
high penalty cost is incurred, which reflects the importance of these gases to the Saudi economy.
The model minimizes the sum of the specified three costs.

The constraints of the model reflect the internal physical conditions in the system and other
external restrictions on it. In our model, there are basically three types of constraints. These are: (1)
material-balance constraints, (2) capacity constraints and (3) demand constraints. The demand
constraints, are of the goal type. The model includes three types of material-balance constraints.
These are material-balance constraints for the gas-oil separating plants, the gas plants, and the
fractionation plants. There are two types of capacity constraints. These are plant-capacity and
pipeline-capacity

Table 3. Industries using sweet dry gas (methane) as a fuel.131 l4

No. of Plants Gas Consum tion

Industry 106SCF ! D

Power Generation (SCECO) 500

Desalination Plants @WCC) 2 400
Refineries and Lube Oil Plants 5 160
Steel 1
Aluminum 2”:
Cement Factories : 80
Other industries 24

Table 4. Petrochemical industries using methane and ethane as a fuel and feedstock.
-
ethane ‘thane
Name of l&CFPD lO&CFPD
the company
Feedstock Fuel Total Feedstock Fuel Total

ARRAZI
IBN SINA :: iii ::
SAMAD 22
SAFCO 28 ::
IBN AL-BAYTAR :; :: 85
SADAF 103 : 103
YANPET _ ;; : 77
PETROKEMYA : 82 82 27 27
80
OTHERS

constraints. The demand constraints reflect the demands for different type of crudes and for
methane and ethane. The complete model for the oil and gas network has 263 constraints and 203
variables. Further details are given in Ref. 18.

In total, 19 fields were studied. These have 56 GOSPS. The data needed to study the
impacts on the petrochemical industries are gas composition, production cost, fluid properties,
pipeline capacity and transportation costs, and methane and ethane demands. T pica1 gas
compositions for the 19 fields are shown in Table 5. The production costs are shown in + able 5. In
Saudi Arabia, production costs are estimated to be in the range of 1 to 3 US$/bbl?r The variation
1094 M. A. AL-SALEH et al

in cost depends on field location, field depth, and the field distance from the main utilization
facilities. Reservoir temperatures are calculated from the relation

T = T, + (depth)(gradient),

where the surface temperature (T,) is taken as 80°F for all oil fields. The gradient is assumed to be
0.0143 OF/ft. Table 6 contains information about each GOSP. These are the gas-to-oil ratio (GOR),
API gravity, relative oil density (yo), relative gas density (yg), shrinkage factor (l/B,), capacity, and
crude type. Shrinkage factors (l/B,) are calculated by using the correlation given in Ref. 23 as
follows:

B, = 0.497069 + 0.862963x10” T + O.182594x1O-2 F + O.318O99x1O-5 F2

where
F = GQR0.742390 xy 0.323294 xyo-1.2@204
g
and T = is the absolute temperature in degrees Rankin.

Table 5. Oil production cost and gas compositions in various fields.18-20

Mole Percentages
Oil
Field Production N2 CO2 H2S Cl C2 C3 C4 C5+
cost
(SWbl)

Ain Dar 6.56 0.30 11.85 3.72 45.90 19.03 11.70 4.50 3.00
Haradh 6.56 0.39 9.43 1.17 55.87 18.32 10.01 3.23 1.58
Uthmaniyah 6.56 0.28 10.28 1.78 49.82 18.84 11.65 4.60 2.75
Fazran 6.56 0.11 7.45 1.80 54.71 19.93 10.51 3.65 1.84
Shedgum 6.56 1.23 9.88 2.45 49.37 18.15 11.28 4.51 3.13
Hawiyah 6.56 10.90 1.30 56.70 17.40 9.20 3.00 1.50
Abqaiq 5.70 0.60 9.36 3.23 60.61 16.41 6.95 2.04 0.80
Abu Hadriyah 7.20 0.60 4.07 5.12 38.34 17.82 15.60 9.37 9.08
Abu Safah 7.69 3.52 6.82 2.90 48.90 19.30 12.21 4.54 1.81
Berri 8.74 0.24 7.97 7.74 52.90 19.20 8.44 2.45 1.06
Dammam 4.01 11.99 10.06 1.66 69.46 3.01 1.51 1.08 1.23
Harmaliyah 7.46 0.08 9.38 6.23 47.62 19.48 10.72 4.00 2.49
Khurais 7.54 0.50 5.25 0.23 41.91 23.74 17.85 6.73 3.79
Khursaniyah 5.54 0.27 6.39 3.77 41.62 20.38 15.99 6.99 4.59
Manifah 10.31 11.43 16.05 28.51 18.20 16.61 6.09 3.11
Marjan 11.25 0.32 1.47 80.48 10.92 4.50 1.58 0.73
Qatif 7.72 0.39 17.50 14.10 34.47 15.50 11.64 4.24 2.16
Safaniyah 9.79 1.49 1.87 - 48.79 23.35 11.40 8.80 4.30
Zuluf 10.35 0.48 1.07 - 78.83 12.03 5.58 1.10 0.91

Pipeline capacities and transportation costs are given for the Shedgum gas plant,
Uthmaniyah gas plant, and Berri gas plant in Tables 7,8, and 9, respectively. Pipeline transporation
costs are based on the fact that it cost US$O.6 to transport and pump an oil barrel from Ras
Tanura through the Petroline to Yanbu. 14 It is estimated that the pipeline transportation cost per
barrel is SR:O.O0265/mile (US$l = SR3.75). The previously calculated methane demand is
1.621~10~ SCFPD while the ethane demand is 2.87~108 SCFPD.

Using the indicated data, the model was run 19 times, for oil production varying from one to
ten million barrels per day. In each run, the amount of crude oil to be produced is Increased by half
a million barrels per day. From each run, the amount of methane and ethane is obtained plus other
factors such as the amounts of crudes to be produced from each field, types of crude, and the
amounts of methane and ethane obtained from each gas plant. Table 10 shows the main results
obtained from the model. It shows the total methane and ethane obtained at different production
ceilings. The methane obtained is plotted vs oil production in Fig. 2, while the ethane obtained is
plotted in Fig. 3.
 Impact of crude oil production on the Saudi petrochemical industry 1095

Table 6. Properties of oil and gas in various fields.“? 19122

Total Main
Field No. of GOR API YO yg Bo
capacity crud oil
GOSPS SCF/STB bbl/STB 1000 BPD produced

Ain Dar 34.6 0.85 10 1.0332 1.344 1200

Haradh ; 544
400 36.0 0.8448 0.9206 1.268 200
Uthmaniyah 12 461 33.1 0.8597 0.9965 1.297 2400
Fazran 35.1 0.8493 0.9283 1.289 50
Shedgum : 448
543 34.1 0.8545 1.0029 1.339 1500
Hawiyah : 846
400 32.1 0.8649 0.9166 1.260 600
Abqaiq 36.0 0.8448 0.8604 1.459 800
Abu Hadriyah 1 267 34.3 0.8534 1.2077 1.248 100
Abu Safah 30.0 0.8762 0.9678 1.093 150
Berri : 64
758 37.8 0.8358 0.9136 1.450 1250
Dammam 34.1 0.8545 0.7852 1.262
Harmaliyah : 739
485 36.0 0.8448 0.9935 1.454 1::
Khurais 4 274 32.0 0.8654 1.0754 1.190 200
Khursaniyah 30.8 0.8718 1.0950 1.256 300
Manifah : 375
145 27.0 0.8927 1.1679 1.157 100
;atr# 31.1 0.8702 0.7043 1.410 100
: 840
679 31.9 0.8660 1.1085 1.430 150
Saafaniyah ; 555
177 27.9 0.8877 1.0207 1.134 2100
Zuluf 31.1 0.8702 0.7307 1.290 1000

Table 7. Pipeline capacity and transportation costs for the Shedgum gas plant.”

GOSPS Entering Ca acity of Pipe Transportation Cost,

10B SCFPD 1O-4SR/SCF

Shedgum GOSP 1 1.70 0.100

GOSP 2 1.70
GOSP 3 1.70 iii
GOSP 4 1.70 21
GOSP 5 1.70 19

Ain Dar GOSP 1 1.10 57

GOSP 2 1.10 88
GOSP 3 1.10
GOSP 4 1.10 ::
GOSP 5 1.10 58

Fazran GOSP 1 0.23 160

Abqaiq GOSP 2 1.70 156

GOSP 3 1.70 165
GOSP 5 1.70 132
GOSP 6 1.70 156

Dammam GOSP 1 0.25 312

Qatif GOSP 1 0.35 363

GOSP 2 0.35 363
GOSP 3 0.35 363
1096 M. A. AL-SALEH et al

Table 8. Pipeline capacity and transportation cost to the Uthmaniyah gas plant.18

GOSPS Entering Capacity of Pope Trans ortatron Cost,

10’ SCFPD lo- P SR/SCF

Ain Dar GOSP 6 1.10 12.80

Haradh GOSP 1 0.40 3.40

GOSP 2 0.40 11.40

Uthmaniyah GOSP 1 0.93 5.30

GOSP 2 0.93 2.10
GOSP 3 0.93 1.40
GOSP 4 0.93 5.20
GOSP 5 0.93 4.40
GOSP 6 0.93 1.70
GOSP 7 0.93 2.20
GOSP 8 0.93 3.20
GOSP 9 0.93 4.30
GOSP 10 0.93 2.10
GOSP 11 0.93 2.10
GOSP 12 0.93 3.70

Hawiyah GOSP 1 0.80 7.10

GOSP 2 0.80 2.90
GOSP 3 0.80 4.60

Khurais GOSP 1 0.14 41.50

GOSP 2 0.14 44.40
GOSP 3 0.14 42.50
GOSP 4 0.14 42.50

Harmaliyah GOSP 1 1.20 11.60

Table 9. Pipeline capacity and transportation costs for the Berri gas plant.”

Capafity of Pipe
GOSPS Entering 10 SCFPD

Berri GOSP 1 1.90 0.47

GOSP 2 1.90 0.47
GOSP 3 1.90 12.40
GOSP 4 1.90 12.40
GOSP 5 1.90 12.40

Abu Hadriyah GOSP 1 0.30 7.80

Abu Safah GOSP 1 0.13 20.80

Khursaniyah GOSP 1 1.20 10.40

Manifah GOSP 1 0.15 17.50

Marjan GOSP 1 0.90 43.90

Safaniyah GOSP 1 1.30 57.30

GOSP 2 1.30 57.30
GOSP 3 1.30 57.30

Zuluf GOSP 1 2.80 65.20

GOSP 2 2.80 64.30
 Impact of crude oil production on the Saudi petrochemical industry 1097

Table 10. Oil production as a function of total methane and ethane obtained.

Or roductron M thane
1O& PD 18 SCFPD

6.76 1.68
8.91 2.49
10.71 2.91
12.45 3.62
13.94 4.21
15.43 4.79
16.21 5.26
16.21 5.19
16.21 5.13
16.21 5.22
16.21 5.18
16.21 5.35
16.21 5.58
16.21 5.84
16.21 5.93
16.21 5.93
16.21 5.93
16.21 5.93
16.21 5.93

1J

1.6

1A

Es
8
‘z 1.2
.E
E
‘3

Ff ‘.O
f
0.8

0.l

I I I I I I I I
0.4
1 2 3 4 5 I 7 a # 10

oil-Raducbion wing in ld BPD

FigI. Oil production v8 methane obtained.
1098 M. A. AL-SALEH et al

0.1

0.1

0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 a 9 10

Oil-Production Ceiling in IO” BPD

Fig.3. Oil production vs ethane obtianed.
5. Discussion of Results
Our results lead to the following main conclusions: (i) For oil-production levels greater than
4 x lo6 BPD, the methane demand is fully satisfied. At the same time6 the ,ethane6is in surplus. At
these levels of production, if oil production is increased from 4 x 10 to 10 x 10 BPD, methane
produgtion is the same due to the allocation of production to oil fields of lower gas-to-oil ratio. (ii)
4 x 10 BPD is the minimum oil-production level at which both the methane and ethane demands
are satisfied and ethane is surplus. (iii) Since 90% of the methane demand is used for fuel the
excess ethane can be used to substitute for methane at oil-production levels of less than 4 x lo6
BPD by using heating equivalency. The relative cost of ethane to methane reflects their heating
value. Therefore, the use of ethane as fuel will not incur extra ost. Hence, by using the excess
ethane, the minimum oil-production level decreases to 3 x 10I? BPD. It is estimated that this
production be sustained for more than 100 years, based on the average qs-to-oil ratio and total oil
reserves. (iv) The non-associated Khuff gas is produced at a level of 1x10 SCFPD. The Khuff gas 1s
needed for oil-production levels of less than 3 x lo6 BPD. The amount of Khuff gas needed as a
function of oil-production levels is shown in Table 11. By uttizing the maxiTurn Khuff-gas capacity,
the minimup oil- p reduction level is decreased to 1.5 x 10 BPD. (v) At oil-production levels less
than 1.5x10 BPD, a shortage of methane will occur. In this case, priority should be given to the
petrochemical industries because other fuel users, such as power generators, can use liquid fuels
because this flexibility exists for power plants in Saudi Arabia. (vi) Exploring and discovering
greater Khuff-gas reserves will make the gas available for local industries, even if oil production is
shut down. This approach will improve the flexibility for oil-production schedules.

Table 11. Khuff gas needed as a function of oil production levels.

Oil production lo6 BPD Khuff gas lo6 SCFPD

1000
::: 690
311
::; 0
 Impact of crude oil production on the Saudi petrochemical industry

6. Conclusions
The main conclusions are the following: (i) At present, the minimum oil-production level is
1.5 x 10 BPD to satisfy botp the methane and ethane demands, while utilizing the maximum Khuff-
gas capacity. (ii) At 3 x 10 BPD, the methane demand is satisfied by utilizing the excess ethane
produced as a substitute without using the Khuff gas. (iii) At oil-production levels exceeding 4 x 1O6
BPD, the local demand for methane and ethane is satisfied. At higher production levels, the system
is optimized in such a way as to allocate production to oil fields with lower gas-to-oil ratios in order
to avoid producing a large surplus of NG which would be burned and wasted.

Acknowledement - Acknowledgement is due to the King Abdulaziz City for Science and
Technology, Riyadh, for a financial grant (AR-7-125), which enabled realization of this work, and
to the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, for allowing the use of their
facilities.

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EGY 16:8-C

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