Saudi Aramco’s offshore expansions to raise capacity by 1 mln bpd

Saudi Aramco’s planned capacity expansions at offshore fields could add crude capacity of about 1 million barrels per day (bpd), Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed industry sources.

The oil giant is currently in the design phases to boost output at its Marjan and Berri fields.

Canada’s SNC-Lavalin Group Inc and the British Amec Foster Wheeler have bagged contracts from Aramco to expand the Berri and Marjan oilfields, respectively.

In the Berri field, SNC-Lavalin will set up preliminary front end engineering design (FEED) for a new gas oil separation plant with a capacity of 250,000 bpd at the existing Abu Ali Gas Plant.

The FEED project is to begin this month with the pre-engineering, procurement and construction (pre-EPC) stage services expected to be complete by August 2018. 

Meanwhile, the Marjan project includes a 300,000 bpd gas oil separation train and a greenfield gas processing plant.

The oilfield is estimated to have a 500,000 bpd crude production capacity, based on current installed production facilities.

Aramco is also planning a project on the Zuluf field, which could boost capacity further, it was reported.

The project will proceed after the EPC deals on Marjan have been awarded, a Saudi-based industry source told the agency.

Zuluf’s current capacity is estimated at between 750,000 and 850,000 bpd.

The total capacity increase at the offshore fields over the coming years could be as high as 1 million barrels – the equivalent of 8 percent of the Kingdom’s official crude output capacity of 12.5 million bbl.