Nigerdock Completes Pressure Vessels on Shell Gbaran-Ubie Project
Daily Independant 12/05/2009
Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) said at the weekend that it has taken delivery of the last batch of process vessels fabricated by two Nigerian engineerring fabrication companies, Dorman Long Engineering Limited and Nigerdock Nigeria Plc for the Gbaran-Ubie Integrated Oil and Gas Project in Bayelsa State.
The four pressure vessels, which were fabricated at the indigenous engineering fabrication companies' in-country factories, complete the 24 that will be at the heart of the project's central processing facility.
Deputy Manager, Gbaran-Ubie project, Okee Elechi said in a statement: "The process vessels are the largest-sized equipment at the processing facility and we are happy that Nigerian companies fabricated them. The experience they have gained is a significant plus in our continued efforts to develop Nigerian content."
According to Elechi, the process vessels will help separate gases from liquids, adding that without these vessels, the central processing facility cannot process and treat the oil and gas fluids expected from the more than 30 wells that are being drilled.
Nigerdock fabricated 14 of the vessels, including instrument air receivers, fuel gas scrubbers and some of the structural steel that make up the central processing facility, while Dorman Long fabricated 10 vessels, including high and low pressure separators, surge vessels and flare drums as well as supplied materials for the project's 90,000-barrel capacity storage tank, in addition to completing the associated platforms and stairs for the vessels.
The two Nigerian companies were contracted by Daewoo Nigeria Limited, the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor for the Gbaran-Ubie central processing facility and remote manifolds.
Together, the two companies have produced 50 percent of the vessels in the multi-billion Naira contract workscope.
The SPDC in a statement listed the other Nigerian content milestones achieved by the Gbaran-Ubie project, saying apart from helping create two indigenous scaffolding companies in Bayelsa State, both of which have gone on to execute jobs for the project, the Daewoo construction camp was constructed entirely by companies from the Niger Delta region.
Okee said: "Scaffolding is an important aspect of construction work, so we expect the two companies to branch out from Gbaran-Ubie and take substantial contracts in associated works in Bayelsa State and even beyond."
The Gbaran-Ubie project itself is now more than 70 percent complete and continues to make progress towards first gas in 2010. The project is expected to produce one billion standard cubic feet of gas and more than 60,000 barrels of oil per day.
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