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New blend Das Crude to replace existing crudes by July 2014

Das Crude, a new crude blended by Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company or Adma-Opco will be available for Asian customers by July 2014.

Adma-Opco officials introducing the new blend. — Supplied photo

The new crude consists on a mixture of oil from Umm Shaiff and Lower Zakum oilfields run by Adma-Opco, said Ali Al Jarwan, chief executive officer of Adma-Opco at a press briefing.

Das Crude will replace existing Umm Shaiff or US and Lower Zakum or LZK by July 2014. Adma-Opco carries out the oil and gas exploration from the offshore concession areas of Abu Dhabi.

Oil and gas production comes from its Umm Shaiff or US and LZK fields from which the crude is transferred to Das Island for processing, storage and export.

Adma-Opco’s plan to increase production is a main reason for creating the new blend. The Zakkum or ZK +100,000 barrel per day programme will take the field’s capacity to 250,000 barrels per day from the current 325000 barrel per day.

In addition, the new production planned from Nasr Fields, expected at 65,000 b/d over the coming few years, along with the current Umm Shaiff output of 2,75,000 per day, will bring the total oil production coming to Das Island for processing, storage and export up to around 765,000 b/d, which is part of the company’s overall scheme to increase its production to 9,70,000 b/d by 2020.

Mixing the two crudes in Das Crude and consequently storing it in unified tanks, secures the space required for accommodating the additional production and ensures more efficient and flexible shipment programming.

To ensure loading efficiency, the new mixture will result in saving a considerable fraction of the loading time needed for the simultaneous pumping compared to pumping two different grades into oil tankers.

Loading one blend instead of two crudes will ensure more time enhancement and flexibility to avoid keeping the oil tankers beyond the timeframe allowed for loading.

Das Crude is light sweet crude with an API of approximately 39.2 per cent and sulphur content of 1.3 per cent Wt. Oil and gas production currently comes from these two major oil fields from which crude oil is transferred to Das Island for processing, storage and export. From Das Island the crude oil is exported in two different blends; Zakum Blend and Umm Shaiff Blend.

Zakum Blend is a mixture of Zakum field crude and Bundaq field crude oil while Umm Shaiff Blend crude is a mixture of Umm Shaiff crude oil and TOTAL-Abu Al Bukhosh.

Crude oil produced from the Nasr field, a new field currently being developed by Adma-Opco was originally planned to be part of Umm Shaiff Blend.

The new blend has been introduced based on market demand and in view of Adma-Opco’s fast-paced oil production growth.

In his comments on the new crude, Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi Director General Adnoc said Adnoc’s long term commitment to be a reliable supplier of oil and gas that highly depends on innovative solutions, noting that Das Crude as an innovative idea to secure the space required for accommodating the increasing in the company’s production and save two storage tanks on a busy island.

In addition to the Zakum and Umm Shaiff fields, Adma-Opco is developing new fields as the company is targeting a total production of one million barrel per day by 2020.

At a broader level this initiative is part of Adnoc’s extensive efforts to develop new oil and gas fields with the objective of meeting growing needs, with more than 750,000 b/d produced from Das Island.

Das Island is 180-kilometres from Abu Dhabi and boasts oil and gas processing plants, workshops, storage tanks, tanker berthing facilities, a horbour, an airport, paved motorways and a modern hospital apart from residential accomodation.

— haseeb@khaleejtimes.com