Stainless Steel for Oil & Gas Processing - Habshan 5

Habshan 5 was named as the world’s ‘Best Gas & Oil Project’ in 2013 and has dramatically increased offshore gas production in the United Arab Emirates. The Integrated Gas Development (IGD) is a joint venture between Tecnimont and JGC in Japan and the building contract, worth US$4.7bn, is the largest EPC LSTK contract ever tendered in Abu Dhabi. As with all oil & gas processing plants, stainless steel was a key construction material used for many applications.

The construction of Habshan 5 was carried out by GASCO and ADNOC. Gas is transported from offshore to the plant via a 30” dedicated pipeline, where it is processed before being sent on to the country’s vast sales network. Recovered NGL will be sent to the nearby Ruwais site for fractionation before export.

A world-class, cherry-picked team of Japanese and Italian managers along with over 800 engineers work closely together from all over the world using a state-of-the-art ‘virtual global office. During its construction, the Habshan Project employed around 30,000 workers in total and now has a gas treatment capacity of 2,150 MM sct/day and a Sulphur Production capacity in excess of 5,000 tons every day.

BS Stainless were chosen to supply stainless steel products for the construction of Habshan 5. The major use of the metal is for insulation jacketing for thermal and acoustic protection though ancillary products such as stainless steel banding also play a key role in holding much of the metal jacketing in place.

Creating the Habshan 5 IGD required an amount of steel equivalent to that contained in seven Eiffel towers, combined with enough concrete to rebuild both of the Petronas Towers and wiring to reach a fifth of the way around the globe. Plans for Habshan 6 are already being made and work is expected to begin on the near future.

As the world’s demand for power continues to grow (it was recently reported that internet use alone accounts for 8% of the UK’s power bill), projects such as Habshan 5 will increase in importance and Habshan 6 is expected to follow in the near future. BS Stainless commit to working in close conjunction with such projects in order to ensure stainless steel and Aluminium sheet for metal jacketing components of the highest quality will facilitate smooth, low maintenance and cost-effective operation.