Saudi Aramco is aiming to double its crude oil supply to China by 2010 from about 500,000 barrels a day in 2007. Mohammed Al-Madi, VP of Saudi Aramco, said that the coil company has signed an agreement with China Petrochemical Corporation to sell 1 million barrels of crude a day by 2010. Saudi Arabia accounted for 8.2 million tons, equivalent to 650,000 barrels a day or 18 percent of China's crude imports of 45.5 million tons in the first quarter of 2008. Moreover, Saudi Arabia will increase its output capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day by 2009. It produced 9.2 million barrels a day in March 2008. Saudi's new Khursaniyah field on the east coast has started and will eventually pump 500,000 barrels a day. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources was reported to approve Saudi Aramco's massive boost in drilling activity and 40 percent increase in investment. Under the final version of the plan, Aramco will bolster the number of wells drilled around the Kingdom by a third to 248, compared with an original target of 187. Investment on projects will be increased to $13.7 billion from $10.7 billion under the draft plan. The final version of Aramco's plan, which runs from 2009 to 2013, is expected to be approved by the company's board and the Oil Ministry by mid-May, a report by MEED said. Much of the increase in drilling activity will be aimed at sustaining the Kingdom's production target of 12.5 million barrels a day (b/d), which it expects to reach by the end of 2009. Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi recently said that as long-term oil demand forecasts fall and alternative fuel supplies rise, there is no need to go beyond next year's production capacity level. The Kingdom has previously said it could take its production capacity up to 15 million b/d. The plan also includes a $4.1 billion commitment to upgrade existing facilities at the kingdom's landmark Ras Tanura refinery, compared with an initial investment of $2.39 billion. Aramco recently cancelled a planned 125,000-b/d refinery upgrade at Ras Tanura, increasing speculation it is considering a partnership with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) to integrate the refinery with a petrochemicals plant, MEED reported earlier. In the Kingdom, natural gas demand is expected to reach 14.5 billion cf/d by 2030, compared with the current 5.5 billion cf/d, MEED added. The national oil company will spend $2.58 billion on offshore maintenance and new drilling, compared with $2.25 billion previously, marking a new emphasis on the Kingdom's offshore fields. Italian oil services contractor Saipem, which is engaged in billions of dollars worth of work for the company, says Aramco has identified the development of its offshore fields as a priority. “According to Aramco, the offshore in Saudi Arabia is as promising as the onshore,” said Pietro Franco Tali, president of Saipem. “They see the future in the offshore and they are saying they have big hopes for the offshore.” Much of Aramco's offshore development has focused on the Safaniyah, Marjan, Berri and Zuluf fields, but further development is needed, mostly to provide relief to the ageing Ghawar field, the world's largest onshore field. Aramco has devoted $1.15 billion for maintenance of Safaniyah, the largest offshore oil field in the world, which boasts production of about 1.7 million b/d. Aramco's longtime advocacy of energy interdependence between the US and Saudi Arabia was further reinforced with the recently held two public forums sponsored by the National Council on US-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) in Washington DC. “These types of forums have proved to be an effective platform for providing government officials, their staffs and the general public with important information and insights about industry-related issues,” said David D Bosch, who attended the event as head of the Washington DC office of Aramco Services Co (ASC). Energy interdependence also was the topic of a speech by ASC President and CEO Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani at the Arab-US Policymakers Conference in Washington DC.
