Technological development is driven by a combination of the needs of society and the inventiveness of its members. New developments in Sour Gas Technology in the 1990's will be governed by the se driving forces in no 1ess important a manner than any other field.
Historically the major societal need that has driven sour gas technology has been the need for the hydrocarbon component, primarily the methane gas. The "sour", hydrogen sulphide has been, until more recently, Viewed as a nuisance or worse. There is 1ittl e daubt that the need for gaseous hydrocarbons both as fuels and petrochemical building blocks will continue to be an important factor in driving technological developments in the sour gas business, making re sources available from reservoirs that were previously inaccessible or uneconomic. But the days of the simple equation When market demand for the hydrocarbon was the overriding factor in pushing technology to produce more sour gas are gone. The equation is now much more complex and that complexity is being recognised in the directions that sour gas technology is taking as we approach the 1990's.
There Is always a danger in attempting to formulate a complex equation and suggesting that all the important variables have been included. Inevitably the critic quickly finds an embarrassing emission and delights in highlighting it. We recognise these hazards but think it worth while to try to identify at 1east those components of the equation that are likely to be most relevant in driving technological development in the sour gas industry in the 1990's. The equation is presented 1n Fig 1. Features such as cost of borrowed capital, land acquisition, royalty rate and many others that are essential to the overall cost benefit analysis are notably absent from the equation.
Let us look first at the components that contribute to the positive return.
Equations (available in full paper)
Net production of hydrocarbon from sour gas development decreases as the hydrogen sulphide content increases. Nonetheless. the return from hydrocarbon sales will continue to be a dominant factor in the economics of most sour gas developments. The exception is super sour gas which we will discuss shortly. Since methane is the commonest hydrocarbon component of Sour gas, the market for this commodity will continue to be a controlling factor. As a "clean" fuel, methane is not likely to be in less demand in the 1990's and at present comparative fuel prices the market is almost certain to remain at least buoyant. New technological developments in methane end use are therefore likely to be reflected in the economics that drive sour gas development.
Methane, however, is not the sale hydrocarbon component of sour gas. The richer the gas stream is in higher hydrocarbons, the more attractive it will be as a petrochemical feedstock for new developments in this area. An emerging element of this part of the equation is "condensate" content.
