The Saudi Aramco Board of Directors, at its recent meeting in Dhahran, urged management and employees at all levels to continue their high level of efficiency and productivity. That sustained effort will likely be necessary, given the ambitious slate of projects the board approved, according to a press release. The board, under the chairmanship of Ali I. Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, which met recently had approved the 2006 capital and non-capital budgets as presented, including Exploration and Development budgets. Also presented and approved were 24 Expenditure Requests, including: -- The Hawiyah Gas Plant Expansion Project; Four items for pipeline rehabilitation, upgrades and capacity increases; a project for upgrading Jeddah Refinery waste water treatment facilities; items for 2006 computing systems and computer workstations and software; an item for EXPEC Computer Center support for 2006; an item for communications network upkeep for 2006; Home ownership housing loans for 2006 and annual operating expenses for Saudi Aramco Built Government Schools for 2006. --MORE 1123 Local Time 0823 GMT
