Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has achieved another significant landmark in its history of supplying natural gas for the nation's development with the commissioning of the $150-million Saih Nihayda plant.

The new plant began to export gas and condensate (a liquid hydrocarbon by-product of gas production) on March 3.
The Saih Nihayda plant, which is processing gas from the condensate-rich, deep gas reservoirs of the Saih Nihayda field, is capable of exporting up to 20 million cubic metres of gas per day and 10,000 cubic metres of condensate per day. Its construction was carried out under contract by a joint venture between the local firm, Al Hassan, and the Canadian firm SNC Lavalin.
It is the largest gas project to have been completed by PDO since the completion in 1999 of the upstream LNG project, which consisted of the development of the Saih Rawl and Barik gas fields as well as the construction of the Central Processing Plant at Saih Rawl and the laying of a 48-inch pipeline from there to Qalhat, near Sur.
The plant - which took just four years from the concept definition to commissioning - will be needed to feed gas to the nation's third LNG train, which is currently under construction at Qalhat. Until the third liquefaction train is commissioned later this year, the Saih Nihayda Plant will be supplying gas to the two existing liquefaction trains of the Oman Liquefied Natural Gas plant, also at Qalhat, and to other costumers via the existing 48-inch pipeline. To ensure an adequate future supply for all costumers, the capacity of the 48-inch pipeline is also being expanded by PDO in another major project.
'The commissioning of this plant represents the first of several new-generation projects aimed to meet the increasing gas demand from the different gas-based industries in Oman,' said Project Manager Abdallah Al Aufi. 'It was the first time in PDO that a project of this size has been executed by a team consisting of more than 90 per cent Omanis. Gas is a very dynamic business in PDO. We are now preparing the groundwork for the building of a fourth gas plant at Kauther, to continue to meet the needs of Oman's economic diversification.'