Dukhan
| Dukhan | |
|---|---|
| City | |
 Dukhan
|
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| Coordinates: 25°25′10″N 50°47′32″E / 25.41944°N 50.79222°E | |
| Country | Qatar |
| Municipality | Al Rayyan Municipality |
| Area | |
| • Total | 140.9 sq mi (365.0 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 11,520 |
| Time zone | AST (UTC+3) |
| Website | Official website |
Dukhan is a city in the western municipality of Al Rayyan in the State of Qatar. It is approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of the capital, Doha. Dukhan is administrated by Qatar's state oil agency Qatar Petroleum and is the site of the first oil discovery in Qatar.
All the industrial operations inside the city are administrated by the Dukhan Operations Department. A special permit from Qatar Petroleum, in the form of a Dukhan entry gate pass, is required for entry to the city. A four-lane motorway connects Doha with Dukhan.
In Mike Morton's biography, In the Heart of the Desert, it is noted that that the English translation of Dukhan is 'smoky mountain' (Jebel Dukhan), a reference to the clouds that gathered around its summit, and colloquially to the smoke emanating from gas flares around the oil camp named after it.
Oil exploration in the Dukhan area began in 1935. In 1937, oil was struck in Dukhan; making it the first substantial oil reserve to be discovered in the peninsula. Construction on Dukhan's first oil well began in 1939 and was finished the next year. The original settlement was built as an oil camp for personnel of the Qatar Petroleum Company. Oil operations were temporarily shut down during World War II.
On 31 December 1949, Dukhan exported its first barrel of oil. The full development of Dukhan's oil fields was completed in 1954. The city’s development entered a new stage of development when the Dukhan power station was commissioned in 1958, and when natural gas was found in the Khuff Reservoir the following year at an average depth of 10,000 feet.
Over the next few decades Dukhan’s growth continued a steady pace. 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.
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Wikipedia