Dukhan City

Dukhan City

Dukhan is an industrial city in the western municipality of Al Rayyan in the State of Qatar. It is approximately 60 kilometres 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. 

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.

Nationalization of Oil Industry 

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.

The Dukhan Gas Lift project was planned in 1999 to help maintain crude oil production. The implementation is still in progress and is set to supply gas to approximately 300 wells in the area. 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.

In 1990, there were 390 hydrocarbon wells in Dukhan, covering 0.08% of the area. Of the 390 wells, 140 were oil producing, 20 were gas producing and 219 were for other uses.[8] The pipeline system for these wells covered 0.1% of the area and had an overall length 204 kilometres (127 mi). By 1990, there were seven degassing stations and two pumping stations. The Khatiyah sector was the most densely occupied in terms of infrastructure.

Residential developments

Dukhan's residential area was developed at the same time oil operations were commenced in 1940. The first residential area was a 3 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi) fenced oil camp situated in close proximity to the oil fields. Several issues limited the growth of the camp in its early years, such as lack of private ownership and its remoteness from the capital city. The camp comprised eight residential zones, several administrative buildings, stores, workshops, and cultural facilities. Two schools, a hospital, and two mosques and a church were also located in the camp. Mike Morton remarked that in 1958, the oil camp had a club with tennis, billiards, hockey, football and cricket facilities, as well as a restaurant, a bar and a library. He claims that the club's bar was the focal point of the camp.

Recreational facilities

Dukhan is served by several recreational facilities. One of the oldest recreation clubs in the city is Dukhan Recreation Club (DRC), formerly known as Dukhan Fields Club until 1988. It has a swimming centre, a garden, a conference centre, a library, a sports lounge, and an indoor stadium. It plays host to several community functions, such as the yearly Dukhan Women's Association handicraft exhibition, school events and sports events. Jinan Recreation Club serves the city as a multi-recreational facility. It contains a library, a party hall, numerous sports facilities, and a cinema. A fitness club exists in the city, but it is exclusive to Qatar Petroleum employees. Facilities are gender-segregated.

There is a water sports club in the community called Dukhan Water Sports (previously known as Dukhan Sailing Club). It was formed in the 1960s, and currently offers services such as powerboat sports, jet skiing and windsurfing. Events hosted by the club include an annual sailing regatta and an annual raft race.[24] Dukhan also has a golf club; its facilities include a practice range, a lounge and a club house. Dukhan Cinema opened in 1982. It has a 620-seating capacity and features four weekly multilingual shows. It also facilitates community functions and drama classes for Dukhan English School.

Transport

The first road in Dukhan was built in 1940 to connect the oil camp to Doha. Travel by car to the capital took approximately 3 hours. The only other form of transport to the capital at this time was by boat through Zekrit jetty, located 7 miles (11 km) away from the camp.[28] A second road was built in 1948 to connect Dukhan to Umm Bab and Mesaieed. In the 1970s, the Salwa Road was developed to link all four of the aforementioned areas. The total road system was 2.2 square kilometres (0.85 sq mi) by the 1990s. In 2014, the road linking Dukhan to Doha was reconstructed by the Public Works Authority as part of a $384.5 m project. The new road is 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi).