As with its rich oil reserves, the abundance of natural gas across a varied range of plays in the Middle East means that there is no single “one size fits all” approach that can be taken in relation to extraction. The challenge for the industry, therefore, must be to continually develop and deliver appropriate technologies to improve productivity in new wells, optimise production from existing wells and ensure the longevity of both, given the very long term planning horizon for production and demand.

We see the Middle East gas market as characterised by a mixture of growth projections and natural gas production quotas, but this isn’t all from new wells and enhanced recovery from existing wells remains paramount.

Focusing on specific countries, Qatar’s growth is expected to come from its current well stock as it assesses increased production from the North Field, long-term domestic demand and exports to the UAE and Oman. In Oman and Kuwait, the most likely source for growth will be from new wells. This is due to export commitments and growing domestic demand in Oman’s case and net importer status for Kuwait, with a similar growth in domestic demand.Saudi Arabia is neither an importer nor exporter of gas, thus it will require a huge increase in gas production over the coming decade and beyond. The UAE’s focus is likely to be on imports in the short and long term, coupled with growing internal production to feed a rapidly increasing domestic market.

As a company that provides industry-leading completions products, systems and services to the international upstream sector, with a successful track record in the Middle East, Tendeka is ideally placed to support the industry in meeting its challenges in the region.

Key to this support, and as part of the wider industry drive towards ever more intelligent wells, is the ongoing development of our wireless and autonomous inflow technologies. One of our latest products to be launched in this field is the Autonomous Inflow Control Device (AICD). The AICD, which was operator developed and licensed following numerous ICD installations around the world, including locations in the Middle East and Europe, has transformed the traditional ICD from a passive technology to a fully autonomous device. It constantly adapts to the changing parameters across the entire length of the production interval, allowing for higher production rates than passive inflow control simultaneously providing excellent sweep efficiency.

Having developed a highly successful wireless pressure/temperature gauge, we are currently exploring other wireless technologies and will be launching a new product range of Wireless Intelligent Completion Technologies named SigNet at Intelligent Energy and ADIPEC 2013. The SigNet system is an innovative cable-free combination of measurement, inflow control and downhole power generation that enables direct in-lateral flow control for the first time.

Given the Middle East gas demand, the region is a great geography and market for short and long term investment. It features very highly in Tendeka’s view as an excellent ongoing opportunity, and we look forward to introducing further innovative and much needed technologies to our many clientsin the region.
We are experiencing significant demand for our products, systems and services, and look forward to developing further innovations that will provide our clients with optimal well flow control and enable production optimisation across the life of the well.