Margham Gas Plant & Field

The Margham Gas Plant and Field is located approximately 55 Km from Dubai on the Dubai / Hatta road. It is the largest gas field onshore Dubai. The field contains three gas-bearing geological formations located more than 10,000 feet below the ground surface.

The field started up in 1984 and has been developed with production and injection gas wells that are connected through a gathering system to the Margham Plant. Initially the gas was processed to remove water for disposal and condensate for sale and the dry gas was re-injected into the reservoir. Today the dry gas is sent by pipeline to the Dubai gas grid.

The gas plant is a typical design, which by a series of cooling, pressure reduction, and phase separation steps, separates the heavier hydrocarbon components and formation water from the gas. The remaining gas stream, substantially free of liquid components, can be either flowed directly to the Dubai gas grid or compressed to a higher pressure if higher rates are required.

The raw condensate is brought to product specification by further removal of water and stabilized by distillation. The stabilized condensate is moved by pipeline to a refinery at Jebel Ali.

The field has functioned as a strategic gas storage facility for Dubai since 2008, with the ability to inject gas to the reservoir or produce gas in order to satisfy Dubai’s seasonal fuel gas requirements. This function has allowed Dubai to eliminate using oil products as fuel for electricity generation and water desalination (other than for the occasional operational testing reason). This results in an important environmental benefit of reducing air pollution. Using Margham as a strategic storage facility will extend the life of this key piece of Dubai energy infrastructure for many years to come, both to satisfy Dubai requirements and to provide a gas storage service to other parties.