Sharjah National Oil Corporation (SNOC) announced the completion of the second phase of its underground gas storage project in the Moveyeid field. The project started in 2017 with a small-scale pilot phase followed by expansion into phase two with larger gas volumes in January 2021.

SNOC will enter into a new area of business with the completion of this project phase and will help balance the gas supply and demand for Sharjah to meet the required supply flexibility for Sharjah’s power sector.

“The completion of this project is an outstanding achievement considering the local and international supply chain challenges we met during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It was completed without any operational, safety or environmental incidents,” said Hatem Al Mosa, CEO of SNOC.

Al Mosa added, “The timely launch of this project is a major new business development activity for SNOC. It will allow us to store excess gas in the winter to satisfy the UAE’s summer peak electricity demand as well as provide a readily available strategic reserve for energy security allowing us to respond to unexpected operational or market challenges. The next phase of this project could potentially increase capacity up to four times its current level and has the ability to serve the whole of the UAE, and not only Sharjah.”

Operated to world-class technical and safety standards, the second phase concluded with the successful execution of Underbalanced Coil Tubing Drilling (UBCTD) well simulations, a technique in which horizontal legs are drilled in existing wells thereby enhancing the accessibility of the reservoir.

The implementation of this technique has substantially improved well performance while significantly lowering the required injection pressure, leading to considerable cost savings. The newly designed surface and subsurface infrastructures are optimized for enhanced efficiency and are built with the capacity to support future expansion.