Dalma gas field is an ultra-sour gas field located in shallow waters of the Persian Gulf offshore Abu Dhabi, UAE. It is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC, 60%, operator), Eni (25%), Wintershall (10%) and OMV (5%).
The field is a part of the Ghasha concession, which includes other oil and gas fields such as Hail, Ghasha, Nasr and Mubarraz. The concession is valid for a period of 40 years, starting from November 2018.
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The natural gas produced by the field will be sold to the Dubai Supply Authority (DUSUP) under a 15-year gas sales agreement.
Dalma, along with the other fields in the concession, will produce more than 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day, which will fulfil more than 20% of the UAE’s gas requirement. The project is part of ADNOC’s 2030 strategy to secure sustainable and economic gas supply for the country and transform from a net gas importer to a net gas exporter.
Dalma gas field discovery and geology details
The Dalma gas field lies in the Arabian basin, which is expected to contain several trillion standard cubic feet of recoverable gas. The field was first discovered in 1970 followed by a geological evaluation in 1983. ADNOC, Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA) and Occidental conducted a joint environmental study on the field from 2013 to 2014.
The field reservoir lies in a diverse environmental region with rare and endangered species, as well as a habitat with high protection status. It also includes fragile core areas, and buffer and transition zones.
Ghasha concession development details
The Ghasha concession will comprise approximately 11 artificial offshore islands to support the drilling and development of the fields lying within the concession. The artificial offshore islands will include two new causeways and expand to the existing islands.
The names of the artificial islands are Ghanem, Sawalem, Chananiz, Reeah, Seebeh, Jzool, Duroob, Seemeh, Gaff, Mudaifena and Shalhah.
Dalma gas field development details
The gas field will be developed through three new wellhead platforms and four subsea steel umbilicals with a total length of more than 100km.
The umbilicals will supply power, communication and injection fluids to the wellhead platforms. They will connect the subsea equipment with the platforms and connect the topside equipment of platforms to onshore equipment.
Contractors involved
KBR was contracted by ADNOC to manage the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase of the field in August 2017. The company is also involved in the detailed design and survey phase of the artificial islands at the Ghasha concession.
NPCC won the procurement, fabrication, transportation, installation and commissioning contract for four wellhead towers and jackets, while TechnipFMC received a FEED contract for detailed planning and development of the field in January 2018.
Aker Solutions received a contract worth NOK700m ($77.8m) in August 2019 to supply subsea umbilicals for the Dalma gas field. The umbilicals will be designed and manufactured at Aker’s plant in Mobile, Alabama, US.
The contractors involved in the development of the Ghasha concession include National Marine Dredging Company, Bechtel, Artelia and Fugro.
