JEDDAH, 16 February 2003 — Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, will commission the Kingdom’s third strategic storage facility in Abha on Tuesday.
A ceremony will be held in the southern resort city on the day to mark the opening, Al-Watan Arabic newspaper reported yesterday. Asir Governor Prince Khaled Al-Faisal and other senior officials are expected to attend the function.
The government has invested more than SR11 billion ($2.9 billion) to build five storage facilities in Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha, Madinah and Qassim, to ensure energy supplies in emergency situations.
The facility in Abha is linked to the distribution center in Jizan via a 245-km long pipeline, part of which passes through 10-km-long tunnels.
Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, inaugurated the first two storages in the Riyadh and Makkah regions.
The first storage facility in Alkharj, near Riyadh, was opened on Feb. 23, 1999 while the second, situated in Jeddah, on Aug. 27 last year.
Each stockpiling facility is designed to store millions of barrels of petroleum and its products and could meet the Kingdom’s requirements for months.
During emergency situations, the project will ensure the needs of the armed forces and major civilian sectors such as agriculture, industry and transport.
At peace time, the project will supply petroleum products as part of Saudi Aramco’s distribution system.
These storage facilities are economically vital as they help to dispense with import of these products at times of crisis. They will also help the Kingdom meet growing international demand.
All storage facilities, which are managed by Saudi Aramco, are linked with the company’s operation control center in Dhahran, which monitors the level of storage and quality of petroleum. They are also linked with the Defense and Aviation Ministry to take decisions in emergency situations.
About 700 kms of pipelines linking the storages with refineries and distribution centers have been constructed as part of the project. The storage in Madinah is connected with the refinery in Yanbu via a 162-km pipeline.
Prince Sultan, who arrived in Abha on Friday at the start of an inspection tour of military personnel and installations in the Southern Province, yesterday inaugurated the military facilities of the 11th Imam Saud Al-Kabir Brigade.
Brig. Mohammed Al-Mudlej, manager of King Faisal Military City for operation and maintenance, briefed the prince on the brigade’s new facilities.
Prince Sultan is scheduled to open the electronic maintenance center for F15 planes and a permanent exhibition center at King Khaled Air Base in the Southern Province, Al-Watan said.
According to the daily, the prince will inaugurate a new kidney center, under the armed forces health care program in the south, tomorrow. He will also open a reception center and an officers club at the 4th Air Defense Group stationed in the region.
Prince Sultan will open an environmental seminar organized by King Khaled University in Abha. He will also attend popular receptions to be organized in Bisha and Khamis Mushayt.
