Qurayyah seawater backfilling Master Gas System since 1978

“The most ambitious energy project in history,” was how Aramco described the Master Gas System (MGS) in 1976.

Unprecedented in scope and cost, by the time the initial MGS was completed in 1982, it could process about 3.5 billion standard cubic feet per day of gas — the energy equivalent of 750,000 barrels of crude oil.

Associated gas used to maintain pressure in the oil reservoirs was now slated for industrial use.

Aramco turned to a more efficient alternative for maintaining reservoir pressure: injecting treated seawater. 

The Qurayyah Sea Water Treatment Plant, a massive undertaking, began pumping 3.7 million barrels per day of seawater from the Gulf in 1978. 

The plant removed impurities, but not salt.

Huge pipelines, engineered to withstand the corrosive effect of the Gulf’s extremely salty water, carried the treated seawater to injection facilities in the Ghawar field. 

Aramco’s seawater injection system replaced the use of water drawn from onshore saline aquifers for reservoir pressure maintenance.

Caption:

Operators in the control room of the Qurayyah Sea Water Treatment Plant in 1979 monitor the processing and delivery of 4.2 million barrels per day of seawater for injection into oil fields to maintain reservoir pressure.