Aramco’s President and Chief Executive Officer Abdallah S. Jum’ah.

JEDDAH, 18 May 2005 — Saudi Arabia could double its crude production capacity to meet growing world demand, Aramco’s President and Chief Executive Officer Abdallah S. Jum’ah said on Monday. “The Kingdom is uniquely positioned, because of its reserves and resources, to consider raising its production by such a margin,” he said.

“US forecasts say Saudi capacity will need to grow from its current 11 million bpd to over 23 million bpd to meet world demand,” he said in a speech at Rice University’s James Baker III Institute for Public Policy in Houston, according to the text of his remarks released by Aramco yesterday.

Jum’ah said the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US is one of mutually beneficial interdependence. “I am proud to say that Saudi Aramco has been at the center of this relationship, ever since the day in 1933 when Saudi Arabia and Standard Oil of California — predecessor to Chevron — signed a concession agreement which paved the way for the discovery of oil in the Kingdom,” he added.

This relationship extends beyond oil into multidimensional areas of cooperation, Jum’ah noted. The presence of US companies and professionals in Saudi Arabia is as pervasive as it is welcome, he said, and is set to grow in the years ahead as a wide range of profitable investment opportunities open up in the country over the next 20 years.

“Can Saudi Arabia and Saudi Aramco step up and deliver?” Jum’ah asked. The answer is “yes,” he said, citing the Kingdom’s 260 billion barrels of reserves — a quarter of the world’s total — and the prospect of adding another 200 billion barrels through an aggressive exploration program.

Saudi Aramco was expanding its production, processing and transport infrastructure to accommodate a 12 million bpd capacity, he added. “Just as Saudi Arabia relied on the expertise of professionals and companies from the US to develop its oil sector, the US has come to rely on Saudi Arabia for much of its energy,” Jum’ah said.

US demand for oil is predicted to grow from 20.6 million barrels per day (bpd) to almost 28 million bpd by 2025, while US domestic production is expected to drop by almost a million bpd during that period, Jum’ah said.

Jum’ah pointed to Saudi Aramco’s extensive production, processing and transportation infrastructure, which the company is expanding to accommodate a 12 million bpd capacity. This includes the Saudi commitment to maintain 1.5 to 2 million bpd of spare production capacity.

“Our individual facilities are designed with numerous backup systems, and the network as a whole is also configured with multiple redundancies,” Jum’ah said.

Jum’ah pointed out that in seven decades of operation the company has never once failed to meet a supply commitment to one of its customers for operational reasons.

Jum’ah also toured the recently upgraded Wiess Energy Hall of the Houston Museum of Natural Science on Monday. Jum’ah was accompanied by several members of Saudi Aramco’s management, including Abdulaziz F. Al-Khayyal, senior vice president of refining, marketing and international; Khalid A. Al-Falih, senior vice president of gas operations; and Mazen I. Snobar, president & CEO of Aramco Services Company, based in Houston. Among other leading energy companies, Saudi Aramco was a main sponsor for the upgrade of this important educational facility, visited annually by more than 2 million people — including some 400,000 school students.

Jum’ah expressed his satisfaction with the role Saudi Aramco is playing to increase energy awareness in local communities within the Kingdom and internationally. These efforts, he said, will have positive effects on the industry in the long term. “Like the Saudi Aramco Exhibit in Dhahran, the Wiess Energy Hall of the Houston Museum of Natural Science is a world-class facility that represents a valuable addition to society, and I hope it will help spread important knowledge, and further spark ingenuity among the young generation of visitors to improve energy efficiency and advance the industry’s environmental performance for the benefit of our planet.”