Wasit Plant is a gas plant built by Saudi Aramco among several large-scale facilities in the industrial city of al-Jubayl, located in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the company's significant non-associated gas plants, designed to expand its capacity to increase natural gas production, contributing to higher income, sustainable national economy growth and diversification, and fostering a competitive global energy sector.
Characteristics of Wasit Plant
The Plant features innovative gas processing technology that enhances sulfur recovery efficiency up to 99.3 percent. The plant alone increases the Kingdom's gas processing capacity by 20 percent.
The plant aims to facilitate economic growth in the Kingdom, with a gas processing capacity of 2.5 billion standard ft per day. Operations began in October 2015, and it was officially launched on December 1, 2016.
The Wasit Gas Plant, along with the Khursaniyah Gas Plant project, boosts the Kingdom's gas processing capacity by around 40 percent. It can also fractionate natural gas liquids produced in other provinces into ethane, propane, butane, and natural gasoline.
The production capacity of Wasit Plant
Wasit Gas Plant processes large quantities of non-associated gas, producing around 1.7 billion standard ft of sales gas (methane). This output is supplied to the main gas network, providing natural gas to power generation and water desalination plants, meeting the energy and water needs of residential and industrial facilities across the Kingdom. Additionally, the plant produces 4,800 metric t of molten sulfur daily and processes 250,000 bbl of oil per day to produce various feedstocks, such as ethane, propane, butane, and natural gasoline, for the petrochemical industry.
The plant's design reflects Saudi Aramco's strategy for self-sufficiency in power generation. By utilizing waste heat, the facility can produce steam and generate 750 MW of electricity. This process, known as cogeneration, enables electricity production as a by-product of the company's operations. This reduces the fuel required for energy production, minimizes fuel consumption, and ultimately lowers emissions.
The technologies employed at Wasit Plant have enabled Saudi Aramco to successfully boost its supply of environmentally friendlier natural gas. This allows the company to reduce emissions, establish new industries, and allocate more crude oil for refining, creating added value, or utilizing it for export. The plant reached full operational capacity in October 2016 with the completion of its facilities, including the addition of new power generation facilities providing 984 MW through the implementation of cogeneration projects. This includes facility expansion projects in Shaybah.
Through the Wasit Gas Plant and other gas plants within the main gas network, Saudi Aramco can process over 18 billion standard ft of gas daily. This capacity enables the company to meet its commitment to support progress and prosperity safely and sustainably.
Awards for Wasit Plant
The operational performance improvements at the Wasit Gas Plant led to it winning two global quality awards for its efforts in reducing gas flaring and efficient energy use. These recognitions were awarded during the twenty-fifth Annual Conference of Institutional Excellence, organized by the Asia-Pacific Quality Organization in Indonesia in October 2019. The plant, along with twenty-three leading entities from nine countries, was honored for significant achievements in business excellence.
The plant also won the gold award in the "Global Performance Excellence" category for its environmental impact management using the "Flare Gas Recovery System." This system significantly reduced gas flaring at the facility.
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