AL-KHOBAR – Saudi Aramco plans to develop two less productive areas of major oilfields, industry sources said. The plan to increase capacity from Khurais and Shaybah by a total of 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2017, two sources familiar with the plans said. Aramco is still investing in new production projects, however, to increase its options and take pressure off big fields such as Ghawar and Abqaiq. By 2017, Saudi Aramco aims to boost capacity at Khurais by 300,000 bpd to 1.5 million bpd and at Shaybah by 250,000 bpd to 1 million bpd, the sources said. Such projects are not intended to raise Saudi production capacity beyond the current stated 12.5 million bpd, Saudi oil officials have previously said. After pumping its biggest fields at near record rates to make up for lost supplies from Libya and Iran over the last two years, the Kingdom wants to focus on less productive fields to ease pressure on aging reservoirs to help keep their output robust. – Reuters
