Occidental conserves Libyan gas by reinjection into oil reservoir

As a leading producer in the Libyan Arab Republic, Occidental Petroleum Corp. is vitally concerned with conservation of gas produced along with the oil. Important among the manifestations of this concern is the use of residue gas from a processing plant for injection into an oil-producing reservoir. The miscible drive created by the gas will increase ultimate recovery, and the processing plant recovers LP gas and condensate for sale. Following discovery of the 103-A in 1967, Occidental moved quickly to install production equipment and a 40-in. pipeline to Zueitina, 135 miles distant on the Mediterranean. By Feb. 1968, the first oil was loaded into tankers. Discovery of C and D fields in the 103 concession followed shortly. The three 103 fields plus an original discovery in the 102 concession increased Occidental's oil rate to more than 700,000 bpd by 1970. Facilities in the Intisar A and D fields each consist of a centralized separator system containing 3 stages of separation, plus degassing boots and surge tanks. The terminal at Zueitina includes 8,000,000 bbl of oil storage. The gas processing, the products pipeline, and other aspects of the industrial plant are discussed in detail.