Visiting the Surface Installations of Phase II of the Agadem Block: Equipment and Facilities Ready for Crude Oil Production

As a prelude to the official launch of the start of production of phase II of the Agadem block, a team of technicians from the Ministry of Oil, Mines and Energy has been staying with the press since Sunday October 29, 2023 in Agadem. This is how this mission began on the same day a series of visits to two large surface installations of phase II of Agadem. These are the site of the Dougoule FPF (Field Processing Facilities) station and the Goumeri CPF (Central Processing Facilities) station which underwent a large expansion as part of the materialization of phase II of Agadem. Work on both sites is almost complete. The Goumeri station is even operational.

On the Dougoule station site, agents are hard at work completing all the elements that contribute to the commissioning of the station. The main role of the latter is to receive the production from the wells and pass it through a two-phase separator in order to make an initial separation of oil, gas and water. After this treatment, the crude oil is sent to a CPF or crude oil dehydration plant. According to the explanations provided by the director of hydrocarbon exploration and production Mr. Maidagi Oumarou, the Dougoule FPF station also has the function of determining the percentage of water and sediment in the producing wells by centrifugation and of producing the electricity from gas resulting from the separation of crude oil. Better, from an FPF, we can carry out pigging operations on inter-field pipelines. This means that an FPF station is extremely important in the crude oil production process. Thus, the installations of the Dougoule site are monitored from a control room where the latest generation devices and equipment are located.

Unlike the Dougoule site, the Goumeri station is operational. At the entrance to the station, the instructions are strict in a place where both gas and oil are produced. The risk is therefore great at this level. Each visitor is then required to comply with the safety instructions issued by the site managers. Protective helmets are mandatory, as is compliance with the planned itinerary throughout the entire visit period. Anything that can also cause a spark must be systematically avoided. The use of cell phones is prohibited. In the event of a fire, site staff provide visitors with evacuation instructions to follow. Here, it is the sound of the six (6) compressors that captures the visitor’s attention.

The Goumeri CPF station is a crude oil preliminary processing plant. It has a production capacity of 20,000 m3 barrels per day. Its main function is to receive crude oil from other surface installations such as DS, FPF in order to separate the oil from the associated gas, water, sand and solvents or additives. In addition, it should be noted that the net crude oil resulting from this separation process is transferred to an initial station of a marketing pipeline. The Goumeri site has several units or zones: crude oil processing zone, wastewater treatment zone, fire fighting and prevention system zone, control room, storage zone and generator or central zone. electrical, unloading zone and evaporation basin.

Crude oil coming from other surface installations, in this case DS, FPF, is sent to the three-phase separators to separate the oil, gas and free water. At the entrance to the separators, explains Mr. Ibrahim Yahaya Djamilou, site foreman, chemical additives such as demulsifier and defoamer are injected beforehand to facilitate separation. From these separators, we note three circuits: the oil, gas and water circuit.

Several other emblematic sites or stations are also included in the program of this series of visits by the technical team of the Ministry of Oil with the press.

Hassane Daouda (ONEP), Special Envoy