The Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co (Adma-Opco) has commissioned a 30-inch oil pipeline from Zakum field to Das Island, official sources said.

The 92-kilometre pipeline, stretching from the Zakum West supercomplex's new riser platform to the Das Island receiver station, began operating on February 5 and will carry 310,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil to the island where it will be processed, stored and transported.

"It was a well-planned engineering package and the new pipeline will replace the old one installed in 1967," said Ali Rashed Al Jarwan, assistant general manager (technical) for Adma-Opco.

Along with the pipeline, a new 10-kilometre, 24-inch line was installed linking Zakum Central to Zakum West. A new riser platform with a 24-inch receiver and a 30-inch launcher was also installed, along with an 80-metre bridge linking the riser platform to the collector separator platform.

Surveys conducted on the old pipeline revealed moderate to severe internal corrosion so it was decided to replace it.

Al Jarwan said three "hazards and operability" studies were conducted, along with two hazard identification tasks, three quantitative risk assessments and four health, safety and environmental reviews, in addition to 45 task risk assessments.

Due to all these studies, the cost of the project was reduced by $30 million. Actual expenditure was not disclosed.

Adma-Opco is a major producer of Abu Dhabi's offshore oil and gas. The company operates the Umm Shaif and Zakum fields.