Dukhan

This article is about the city in northern Qatar. For the municipality in which the city is located, see Al Jumaliyah.

Dukhan
—  City  —
Dukhan Location in Qatar
Coordinates: 25°25′10″N 50°47′32″E / 25.41944°N 50.79222°E / 25.41944; 50.79222
Country	Qatar
Municipality	Al Jumaliyah Municipality
Time zone	AST (UTC+3)

Dukhan is an industrial city located in western Qatar. It is located approximately 60 kilometers west of the capital, Doha. Dukhan is administrated by Qatar's state oil agency Qatar Petroleum and holds an important place in Qatar's oil industry. All the industrial operations inside Dukhan are administrated by Dukhan Operations department situated inside the Dukhan Operations Management Building (DOMB). Any person willing to visit or work in Dukhan requires a special permit from Qatar Petroleum in the form of a Dukhan entry gate pass.

There are many contractors working in Dukhan for Qatar Petroleum, mainly involved in oil explorations, plant operations, shut-downs and construction of infrastructure. Qatar's only four-lane motorway connects Doha with Dukhan. Dukhan beach is famous in Qatar for surfing and swimming and as a picnic spot.

History

Oil was first discovered in Dukhan in 1938. The original settlement was built as an oil camp for personnel of the Qatar Petroleum Company.^[1] The city’s development stepped up a gear when the Dukhan power station was commissioned in 1958, and natural gas was discovered in the Khuff Reservoir the following year, at an average depth of 10,000 feet. Over the next few decades Dukhan’s growth continued to pick up speed. In 1974 the Fahahil plant was commissioned to recover raw natural gas liquids (NGL) from associated gas (which is found in either dissolved in crude oil or as a ‘cap’ of gas above the oil). This milestone was followed in 1976 by the first development well in the Khuff reservoir, and from 1978 to 1982 eight Khuff wellhead treatment plants were commissioned. Dukhan expanded further in 1989, when the Dukhan reservoir Power Water Injection (PWI) project began, to address the problem of rising water levels in the reservoirs. PWI helped to enhance oil recovery and maintain reservoir pressure in the Dukhan field. Meanwhile, the Fahahil compression station began operations in 1992, to pressurise the Khuff reservoir with surplus North Field gas and help stabilise production. Progress continued throughout the late 1990s and early years of this decade, with several major enhancements – including the two-stage Arab D project to develop the production of gas and condensates, inaugurated by HH the Emir of Qatar in 1998.

Changing City

Looking ahead, the growth of Dukhan shows no signs of slowing. Future plans include the Dukhan Gas Lift project to help maintain crude oil production. The gas lift system will supply gas to approximately 300 wells in Dukhan. Also forthcoming is Phase VI of the Powered Water Injection (PWI) project, which will increase the number of PWI stations from two to three and result in greater PWI capacity – rising from 538,000 to 708,000 barrels of water per day. As well as industrial infrastructure improvement projects, significant urban infrastructure projects are in hand throughout Dukhan. The area strategic urban development plan was set up in 2003 and is being carried out in four stages.

1. ^ For a description of life in the early oil camp, see Morton, Michael Quentin, In the Heart of the Desert pp.194-5.[1]