| 12/01/97 |
| Poseidon Gas field Facilities Inaugurated
|
| REPSOL: NEW PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING NATURAL GAS
PLANT IN THE GULF OF CADIZ
|
Today, Repsol inaugurated
the production and processing facilities at the Poseidon Gas field, under the
sea-bed in the Gulf of Cadiz, some 30 kilometres off-shore from Huelva, where
exploitation began last October. The opening ceremony was presided over by the
President of the Andalusian Autonomous Government, Manuel Chaves, and attended
by Repsol�s Chairman, Alfonso Cortina, and the Secretary of State for Energy,
Nemesio Fern�ndez Cuesta. Other members of the Central and Andalusian Autonomous
Governments were present. Repsol is operator and sole
concession holder for this field, which is made up of two natural gas fields in
tertiary sandstone layers some 1,500 metres below sea-level, where the depth of
the water is between 75 and 150 metres. Its overall natural gas reserves are
calculated at some 1,700 million cubic metres. To date, three wells have been
drilled at the Poseidon North and South gas fields, reaching a production of
over one million m3 per day in production tests. Gas is transported
to land in a two-phase flow (gas and liquid), through a "Y" shaped pipeline
system, 65 kilometres long, connecting the wells to the coast. After touching
land at Mazag�n, the pipeline runs up to the processing plant, which has a
processing capacity of 1.5 million m3 per day of gas. Liquids
arriving at the plant are separated, filtered, compressed and dried, and gas is
then measured and odourized, before being sent through the 5 km of pipeline to
the Enagas main gas distribution network. Sale of this gas will bring Repsol
revenues of over 8 billion pesetas a year. Other gas pockets discovered in
the area may be put on-stream in the near future, and this could double gas
reserves currently developed through the Poseidon project. After a period of
exploitation, tests will be performed to confirm the technical viability of
re-using Poseidon North field for underground gas storage, once it has been
worked out. Work has been conducted on the
Poseidon project for more than two years, and overall investment has been 12
billion pesetas. This field accounts for 80% of Spain�s production capacity in
gas, which totals 1.9 million m3 per day. In fact, this project
stands out from others of a similar nature in that it has been necessary to face
important technological challenges, such as the installation of an underwater
pipeline in unbroken stretches of 25 km each; an underground connecting pipeline
with six separate steel tubes, each 7 km long and in one piece; and the
transport of gas in a two-phase flow (gas and liquid), without pigging.
The system of remote control for the underwater drill-heads 50 kms away is
particularly outstanding, for it is only the second installation of its type in
the world in terms of distance. |