QATIF, 27 December 2004 — Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday inaugurated Saudi Aramco’s expanded Qatif Producing Plants Project marking the completion of 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) development program.
The crown prince accompanied by Eastern Province Governor Prince Muhammad ibn Fahd and several ministers and top-ranking officials was received at the Qatif plant by Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi and Saudi Aramco President Abdullah S. Jumah.
In his welcome speech, Al-Naimi renewed Saudi support for oil market stability.
The Qatif Producing Plants will enhance the Kingdom’s ability “to continue performing its unique and central role in world oil markets,” Al-Naimi said.
“We seek to achieve a balance between supply and demand in the world oil market and to promote stable oil prices,” he said, adding that the Kingdom also hopes to increase recoverable oil reserves by 200 billion barrels.
Al-Naimi assured international consumers that the Kingdom has an extra two million bpd output capacity which can be pumped out when needed. “At present, the Kingdom’s maximum production capacity amounts to 11 million bpd ... a surplus of around two million bpd which can be used when needed for the benefit of the Kingdom and the peoples of the world,” he said.
He said currently Saudi Aramco was working on 126 projects. Al-Naimi made a special reference to Haradh oilfield which is expected to be completed by 2006. “Once the project is commissioned the facility will produce 300,000 barrels of crude per day.”
He said work was also in progress at the oilfields in Abu Haidariyah, Al-Fadhali and Al-Kursaniya. He characterized these oilfields as center for light crude which once commissioned will produce more than 500,000 bpd of light crude.
Jumah said the Qatif Project, the largest crude increment built in recent times, adds 650,000 bpd to the 150,000 bpd already produced from the Abu Safah field. At 800,000 bpd, Qatif becomes world’s largest crude production facility. In addition, it produces 370 million standard cubic feet per day of associated gas and 40,000 bpd of high-value condensate.
The project which took three million man-hours to design and 70 million man-hours to construct, brought with it the latest technological advancements to increase operational efficiency as well as environmental safety, from an onshore smokeless flare system to a new, 99 percent-effective sulfur-recovery system at Berri Gas Plant that uses technology to make it the cleanest operating plant of all Saudi Aramco facilities.
He said this major milestone was achieved by a competent Saudi work force. The program development, project management and commissioning team were more than 98 percent Saudi nationals, he said.
The Qatif field, north of Dhahran and not far from Ras Tanura, amounts to more than 500 sq. km., including northern and southern dome structures. The onshore component of the project will provide 500,000 bpd of Arabian Light Crude bpd of Arabian Medium.
