treated and discharged to the ocean. At this point, the gas still 

 contains water vapor, which may be removed by dehydration on the platform. 

 Dehydration is necessary because water vapor in the gas stream may 

 freeze under pressure in underwater pipelines, interfering with the gas 

 flow. If only a small amount of associated gas is produced by a given 

 well, the gas may be reinjected into the formation in order to maintain 

 pressure and permit recovery of oil resources [26]. 



The water demand for gas processing plants may reach 750,000 gallons 

 per day, but most plants use less than 200,000 gallons per day. A 

 typical plant uses about 1.5 gallons of water per thousand cubic feet of 

 gas processed. The total water requirement for a gas plant varies 

 depending on the cooling process used, with an air-cooled system requiring 

 much less than a water-cooled system. When available, water is usually 

 obtained from the nearest municipal water system. 



A gas plant handling a billion cf/d would have an average demand of 

 7,500 kilowatts. Electric power will usually be purchased from a local 

 utility or generated at the gas plant [26]. 



Gas plant products are transported by rail, truck, pipeline, or 

 barge, depending upon what type of transportation is available and the 

 location of markets for a particular product. 



Cormiunity Effects 



Gas processing plants occupy 50 to 75 acres and are located near 

 the coast but not necessarily adjacent to the shore. These plants, 

 which are usually located in rural areas, include buffer property for 

 safety purposes and add to the employment base. 



Employment : One recent study estimated that construction of a gas 

 processing plant handling 300 million cubic feet/day requires 250 con- 

 struction workers and 50 engineers [19]. A larger plant, with a capacity 

 of one billion cubic feet/day, would employ a maximum of 550 workers 

 during the construction phase [26]. After completion, a gas processing 

 plant is relatively mechanized. A plant handling 300 million cubic 

 feet/day might employ 21 persons: including 2 supervisors, 5 technicians, 

 8 operators, 5 maintenance persons, and 1 contract service person [26]. 



By contrast, a larger plant, processing 1 billion cubic feet/day, 

 might employ 35 people. In the smaller plant, monthly wages for all 

 employees would be $27,000. Of the employees, 60 percent would be hired 

 locally; experienced supervisors and technicians would be brought from 

 other areas. The employees who would be new residents would be those 

 with higher wages. They will require homes and services in the local 

 area. 



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