JEDDAH, 27 August — Prince Abdullah, the regent, will inaugurate the strategic storage project in the Makkah region today. It is one of the five strategic storage facilities planned for various parts of the country to ensure energy supplies in emergency situations.
The government has invested about SR11 billion ($2.9 billion) to build five storage facilities in Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha, Madinah and Qassim, which are managed by Saudi Aramco.
Prince Abdullah opened the first storage facility in Alkharj, near Riyadh, on Feb. 23, 1999. The new project covers an area of 41 square kms on the old Makkah road.
The opening ceremony will be attended by Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, and chairman of the project, other princes, ministers and high-ranking officials.
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 meet the needs of 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.
Advanced countries give utmost importance to such projects to ensure adequate supply of energy, most importantly petroleum products, in order to ensure uninterrupted development.
These storage facilities are economically vital as they help to dispense with import of these products at times of crisis, especially when local refineries face problems or when there is big demand.
“If the oil distribution pipelines or stations are attacked by enemy, it is possible to supply petroleum products from the storages to users directly with the help of tankers and strategic supply outlets,” a report issued on the occasion said.
The storage facilities will also help the Kingdom meet growing international market demand.
All storage facilities are linked with the operation control center of Saudi Aramco 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,” the report said.
The Saudi Electricity Company supplies electricity to the storages and when power supply is cut off standby generators under the hills will operate.
The report said the project has constructed 700 kms of pipelines linking the storages with refineries and distribution centers. The facility in Abha is linked with the distribution center in Jizan with a 245-long pipeline, part of which passes through 10-km-long tunnels. The storage in Madinah is connected with the refinery in Yanbu with a 162-km pipeline.
The project was implemented after conducting detailed studies on the specifications of the storages and the petroleum products. Samples of petroleum products were sent to a research institute in Texas to make sure they could be stored for a long period.
A laboratory was also set up at the storage in Riyadh to check the quality of petroleum products to be stored. Samples from various refineries in the Kingdom were taken in 1996 and stored in small tanks under the mountains.
“All tests conducted in this respect were successful,” the report pointed out. Petroleum products were stored at the facility in Riyadh in March 1999.
“The products have been checked every month and there have been no change in specifications,” the report said.
