Shedgum

Shedgum is an oil region near al-Ahsa. It has witnessed a number of exploration and production activities that proved its effectiveness. On February 23, 1954, well No. (twelve) in Shedgum, near Ayn Dar, was the first oil well drilled by an entirely Saudi team.

Shedgum is one of the six main areas of the Ghawar field, located about one hundred km west of Dhahran city, alongside the areas of Fazran, Ayn Dar, Uthmaniyah, Hawiyah, and Harad.

Through its investment in projects that enhance the growth of its business, including gas projects, Saudi Aramco established a gas plant in Shedgum, which is one of the oldest gas facilities in the company. The Gas-Oil Separation Plant (GOSP) No. (four) was inaugurated in November 1952. Shortly thereafter, extensive production activities commenced, linked with surrounding plants and fields through a network for the production and transportation of gas that stretches from the east to the west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, within the context of further works accomplished over a large geographical area.

Continuing the development that accompanied Saudi Aramco's activities in gas activities, the company embarked in 1978 on constructing a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline across the Kingdom from the gas plant in Shedgum to Yanbu, spanning 1,170 km. In 1984, the network was supplemented with non-associated gas from the Uthmaniyah and Shedgum fields in the Khuff reservoir, where this gas is available in natural gas fields that do not contain crude oil.

In 1980, the Shedgum Gas Plant was inaugurated, covering an area of 121 ha (equivalent to approximately 160 football fields), and it utilized a set of the largest available gas processing equipment.

The Shedgum Gas Plant was designed for gas processing, to transport natural gas liquids (NGL) and ethane via pipelines from the processing center in Shedgum and Uthmaniyah to the plants in Yanbu and al-Jami'ah for cracking operations. After the removal of ethane, the natural gas liquids undergo another cracking process to produce liquefied petroleum gas (such as propane and butane) and natural gasoline.

New pumping stations were established at the Shedgum Gas Plant and Pumping Station No. /six/, along with the construction of additional pipelines for transporting the extracted substances to the Shedgum Gas Plant and then to the Ju'aymah Gas Plant for cracking, eventually reaching the petrochemical industries.

In September 2007, Saudi Aramco signed a contract for the construction of a 585 km long, thirty-in diameter pipeline to transport natural gas liquids with the Suedrohrbau Saudi Arabia Ltd, as part of the company's project to expand the Shedgum/Yanbu pipeline for transporting natural gas liquids. This expansion is aimed at providing larger gas supplies to feed the industrial development in Yanbu, contributing to an increase in natural gas supplies to Yanbu Industrial City. 70 percent of the materials required for the project are being manufactured by local manufacturing companies.

Saudi Aramco has focused on establishing operational standards that are primarily responsible for reducing carbon intensity. These include the smart deployment in oil fields and the integration of renewable energy technologies within and outside the network. The company began in the 1980s to give its oil and gas a renewable factor by installing photovoltaic panels at the remote cathodic protection station in Shedgum.

The company's project group in renewable energy began in the 1980s by installing photovoltaic panels with a voltage of 10.9 V for a remote cathodic protection station in Shedgum - a gas plant near al-Ahsa - which is an ancient oasis area in the eastern part of the Kingdom. Some of them are still operating.

In recent years, the Shedgum Gas Plant has witnessed significant developments in its operations through the extensive use of technologies. In 2005, a clean (smokeless) natural gas combustion system was installed, a Saudi invention that won the gold award at the International Inventors Conference in Geneva in 2006. Gas flaring is considered a necessary procedure for disposing of the surplus gas left over from the production process or remaining in case of plant shutdown.

The gas makes its way through an underground pipeline network from the southern fields to the Shedgum plant and becomes ready for direct subsequent connection to the local energy market. When the main gas network began operation in 1975, Saudi Aramco established gas plants in Shedgum, Berri, and Uthmaniyah. The Shedgum plant is akin to the central station of a subway network in terms of the intensity and pressure of work, although it is generally a quiet place.

The Shedgum Plant, which has been operating for over four decades since 1980, receives equal parts of associated and non-associated gas, harmonizing old methods and innovation to achieve optimal gas processing. The gas extraction infrastructure in Shedgum is one of the major systems within Saudi Aramco, and the Shedgum gas flare recovery system contributes to regularly stopping gas flaring. Instead of burning the gas in flares, it is returned to the production facility for alternative production. The gas from Shedgum's flare networks is transferred to one of three cylinders containing an insulating liquid, where water is used as the insulating liquid to extract the gas in this system. Then, using two compression units, the gas is redirected back to the main processing plant. 

With the development of operations at the Shedgum Gas Plant and its adherence to the highest standards of safety and performance, it has garnered several awards reflecting its excellence and operational efficiency. In 2007, it received the Excellence Award at the level of gas operations in the southern operations area in its first edition. This award was introduced to foster a sense of competition among the gas plants in the southern operations area in the fields of safety, achieving annual budget goals, training and development, creative ideas, and excellence in executing operations and completing projects within their scheduled timelines.

In 2014, the Shedgum Gas Plant also received the U.S.-based Gas Processors Association (GPA) International Environmental Excellence Award, in recognition of its excellent environmental performance that year, especially concerning its installation of a flue gas recovery system.