Beijing, November 13, 2014 - ABB, the world's leading power and automation technology group announced an agreement with China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), in which it will provide a complete set of automation solutions and engineering services to Phase I of the Sinopec's Shale Gas Project in Jiaoshiba Block in Fuling, Chongqing over the next three years. With this, ABB is supporting China's first large-scale shale gas project to achieve efficient and smart production.
Shale gas is a type of unconventional natural gas that is trapped in a free or adsorbed state in shale or mudstone formations, which are mainly composed of methane. It is a type of clean, efficient new energy resource. According to the "Shale Gas Development Plan" released by the Chinese government in 2012, China will actively promote the development and utilization of unconventional oil and gas resources, including shale gas. This is expected to alleviate the shortage of natural gas supply in the country, as well as optimize the country's energy structure, promote energy conservation, and reduce emissions. As China's first large-scale shale gas project, Fuling has shale gas reserves of up to 2.1 trillion cubic meters, thus having huge potential for exploitation.
ABB will provide a series of smart solutions for the project, including the SCADA system, the Extended Automation System 800xA-based distributed control system, a safety instrumentation system, and Remote Terminal Units (RTUs). To increase the automation level and productivity of the project, the ABB control system will remotely monitor the entire shale gas production process from collection to distribution through distributed control and centralized management. At the same time, the ABB safety system will keep track of the operations of the shale gas production equipments, to guarantee safe and reliable production.
Erik Oja, Head of Process Automation Division, ABB North Asia and China, said: "I am pleased that ABB's process automation system will be deployed at China's first shale gas project, helping promote the development of such new energy. As one of the world's leading suppliers of products, solutions and services for chemical, oil and gas industries, ABB has been helping our customers increase efficiency in the production, processing, transmission, and storage of petroleum hydrocarbons, while meeting the most stringent technical standards, to achieve efficient and safe smart production."
With the technical support of the ABB SCADA system, the Fuling Shale Gas Project will use the advanced design concept of multi-level cut-off and vent for block and pressure rating, to ensure the efficient and safe operation of wells and stations at all levels, including the gas gathering and transportation system of the entire gas field. Offering a multi-level protection and control structure, the SCADA system will enable unmanned production for the 33 gas gathering stations and 15 wellhead gas production platforms of the Fuling Shale Gas Project. Users will also have remote centralized monitoring of each process station at the dispatch center, thus significantly reducing operations and maintenance costs.
Sinopec is one of global accounts of ABB, and has had business cooperation with ABB since 2000. Currently, ABB's leading power and automation products, systems and services have been widely used in several Sinopec oil and gas field exploitation projects and refining plants, both domestically and internationally. In 2013, ABB's SCADA system was also used in the Sinopec Yuanba gas project in the north of Sichuan province.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 145,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and services, with 19,000 employees, 37 local companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 109 cities.
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