ALKHOBAR: Crude production from the Khafji oilfield, jointly run by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, has been halted temporarily to comply with environmental rules, according to an industry source and an internal letter seen by Reuters.
The move is unlikely to affect oil supplies from Saudi Arabia because of the Kingdom’s significant crude output capacity, currently at 12.5 million barrels per day (bpd). In September, Saudi Arabia pumped 9.704 million bpd.
The Khafji field, whose production is around 280,000 bpd to 300,000 bpd in the Neutral Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, was to be brought offline “immediately,” according to a letter signed by Abdullah Al-Helal, chairman of Aramco Gulf Operations (AGOC), which operates the Saudi part of the field.
The industry source said that the shut down had already taken effect and it was not immediately clear how long it would take to bring it back online after complying with the environmental regulations.
Al-Khafji Joint Operations Co. (KJO) is a joint venture between AGOC, a subsidiary of state oil firm Saudi Aramco and Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. (KGOC). Helal could not be reached for comment and senior Kuwaiti oil officials did not respond to a request for comment.
In the letter, dated Oct. 16 and addressed to Mohammed Al-Khatib, executive director of operations of KJO, Helal referred to non-compliance with new environmental air emission standards issued recently by Saudi Arabia’s Presidency of Meteorology and Environment authority.
Khafji disruption ‘unlikely to hurt KSA’s oil output’
