Lessons In The Gas Processing Business

By Morgan Rodwell
Director, Process Technology
Fluor Canada Ltd.

Fluor has been involved in the gas processing business from the post-war era, first in North America then around the world. The industry transitioned from cycling plants to recover liquids and sulfur, through the use of refrigerated lean-oil absorption plants for NGL recovery, and on to sales gas. At the forefront of turboexpander technology, Fluor delivered their first unit in San Antonio, Texas, and the first refluxed expander project in Judy Creek, Alberta. We developed and designed many acid gas removal units, including our own Fluor SolventSM Process (PC) and Econamine FGSM (DGA), along with projects utilizing nearly every other solvent on the market. Fluor continues to be a leading provider of sulfur recovery, tail gas treating and sulfur degassing technologies, including our Goar-Allison D’GAASS offerings. Along the way, our learnings evolved with the industry, regarding corrosion, contaminants and other operational surprises that impact production.

As a global contractor, we see diversity in gas producers and target markets, and appreciate that the technologies and project execution methodologies deployed in one region many not apply elsewhere. In recent years, we have successfully executed large scale, sour gas projects in the Middle East, where we have proven our Improved EconamineSM process in removing mercaptans from high pressure very sour gas. But this isn’t applicable everywhere, as similar scale sour gas production is not favoured by market drivers in other regions.  We have developed patented deep-cut NGL recovery processes, with a focus on the U.S., Mexican and Canadian markets. Furthermore, in the three aforementioned highly integrated economies, market drivers vary widely and regional differences exist.

In each nation, producers and midstream companies are considering varying project scales, product slates, and project timelines — one size definitely does not fit all. Throughput and NGL recovery drivers vary widely within North America, however, we are beginning to see convergence. In Canada, low ethane/propane prices are driving capital investments in the petrochemical industry, along with the construction of propane export terminals on the Pacific Coast. These investments will alter the dynamics of the ethane and propane market, as the Canadian market shifts toward the US market in terms of maximizing propane and ethane recoveries. The timing of increased demand for propane and ethane will vary across the major North American markets, making flexible plant designs, with consideration for minimizing pre-investment yet optimizing future retro-fits very attractive.

Time to market is another key consideration within gas processing and midstream markets. Complex oil and chemicals projects, such as polymer production facilities, in-situ oil sands, or refining have project timelines of three years or more. Larger scale LNG projects can be even longer. The complexity and scale of these projects often requires time to implement optimizations of configuration, modularization and sourcing strategies to reduce capital and/or operating costs. The upstream gas and midstream business in North America generally involves smaller projects with increased competition for capital investment; driving a much shorter time to market. These shorter durations do not mean that these projects cannot be optimized — rather, the optimization approaches are different. Intercompany relationships, partnerships and capitalizing on differing skill sets and areas of expertise are commonplace, in order to drive the most appropriate solutions.

On Fluor’s most recent Canadian gas plant program, we completed four 200 mmscfd gas processing trains in northern British Columbia. We were ably assisted by good partners in the fabrication yards and at site, and delivered these projects well ahead of schedule and approximately 10 percent under the budgeted cost. A key aspect of project success was having transparent relationships between all stakeholders, including the owner, prime contractor, subcontractors and suppliers, and employing agile management techniques to drive results-oriented behaviors. This fostered a dynamic environment not encumbered by contractual compliance, but instead rooted in stakeholder alignment on project goals; informed decisions were made, and impediments quickly removed. We acknowledged that not all work processes and innovations developed on larger projects are suited to smaller projects with shorter schedules; however, we also demonstrated that experiences gained from large project execution can revolutionize upstream and midstream gas project(s) execution as we employ more extensive modularization and a tightly integrated and global supply chain, and benefit from highly data-centric execution.

We continue to seek opportunities to apply our extensive project experiences and adopt new and different execution models to support the growing natural gas and natural gas liquids markets.

Econamine FGSM, Fluor SolventSM, Process, and Improved EconamineSM are service marks of Fluor Corporation.

Since 1949 Fluor Canada has been involved in the engineering, procurement and construction of a wide range of energy related projects that are spread across the Canadian landscape. Today, we provide a complete range of fully integrated solutions for all types of facilities including liquefied natural gas (LNG), refineries, oil sands and heavy oil upgraders, steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) recovery, petrochemicals, chemicals, gas processing, power, mining, as well as pipelines, utilities and offsites, infrastructure and revamps of existing facilities. Our experience as a full-service contractor with extensive process design capabilities is unmatched in Canada.

Throughout our 70-year history in Canada, Fluor has provided local, regional and international clients with our full-service capabilities, which include economic evaluations, conceptual engineering, feasibility studies, program management, detailed engineering, procurement, transportation and logistics, modularization, fabrication, direct-hire construction, construction management, commissioning, start-up, operations and maintenance.

Our employees across Canada have the experience, leading-edge tools, systems and procedures to deliver customized solutions that meet our clients’ needs. We are committed to delivering high-quality, safe and cost-effective project solutions.

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