Rish Dune Gas Processing Plant

About the asset

Rish Dune was sanctioned in 2013 when four separate fields in Al Wusta were each producing gas too sour to enter the grid untreated, and none of them was large enough to justify a plant of its own. Falaj took the development on as operator on behalf of the field partners, on the condition that a single shared plant would sit at the centre of the gathering network rather than four small ones at the wellheads.

The plant treats gas with up to 4.1% hydrogen sulphide. Amine sweetening removes the acid gas, glycol contactors take the water out, and a cryogenic turbo-expander recovers the natural gas liquids that would otherwise be burned as part of the sales stream. The acid gas is not vented: a two-train Claus unit converts it to 180 tonnes of solid sulphur a day, which leaves the site by road for industrial buyers.

Rish Dune has run above 98% availability every year since 2019. The operating philosophy was set during design — Falaj knew it would run the plant itself, so maintainability outranked first cost in every layout decision, from crane access over the compressors to the spacing of the amine exchangers.

Scope of work

• Three-stage inlet separation, slug catching and produced-water handling
• Amine sweetening and triethylene glycol dehydration
• Cryogenic NGL recovery with propane and butane fractionation
• Claus sulphur recovery with tail-gas treatment
• Custody-transfer metering and tie-in to the national trunkline
• Continuous emissions monitoring and zero routine flaring