Gas production has started from the Zora gas field offshore the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to operator Dana Gas.
The project, using a fixed wellhead platform, started on 14 January, with sales gas produced by 28 February due to a delay caused by maintenance work required on gas supply infrastructure at the receiving facilities.
The Zora gas field is in 24m water depth in the Sharjah Western Offshore Concession, about 35km off Sharjah and Ajman in the UAE. The concession covers over 1000sq km straddling the maritime waters of Sharjah and Ajman.
The gas is being transported through a subsea pipeline to a newly built onshore gas processing facility, constructed by Dana Gas in the Hamriyah Free zone in Sharjah. The field is expected to achieve a flow rate of 40 MMcf/d (6650 boe/d).
Dr Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO, Dana Gas, said: “Zora is our first development project in the UAE, and as such, represents a significant milestone in the company’s 10 year history. The project represents a considerable investment by Dana Gas and the resulting gas output will support clean, domestic power generation for Sharjah for years to come.
"Despite a very tough business environment, Dana Gas is entering into a new and exciting phase of its development. Our exploration and development activities in the UAE and in Egypt will provide a short to medium term boost to our overall production levels and thereby help to offset the decrease in revenue and profits resulting from the current low oil price environment. We are also operating and producing in three countries and territories for the first time in our history, namely Egypt, Kurdistan and now the UAE in keeping with our strategy of diversifying our asset portfolio.”