NOT ONLY FOR SAUDI ARAMCO BUT INDEED FOR THE ENTIRE UPSTREAM OIL INDUSTRY,' SAID AMIN H. NASSER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERING AND DEVELOPMENT, IN A PRESENTATION AT THE INAUGURATION. AMIN SAID THE UNPRECEDENTED USE OF MAXIMUM RESERVOIR CONTACT (MRC) WELLS, 'SMART' WELL COMPLETION TECHNOLOGY AND THE REVOLUTIONARY I-FIELD (INTELLIGENT FIELD) CONCEPT IN THE HARADH-3 INCREMENT PROJECT REPRESENT 'A POINT OF TRANSFORMATION, A MODEL TO BE FOLLOWED BY THE REST OF THE INDUSTRY.' THE TECHNOLOGY WILL SHARPLY CUT DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATING COSTS, INCREASE RECOVERY VOLUMES AND EXTEND PRODUCTION PLATEAUS IN HARADH-3 AND FUTURE PROJECTS, HE ADDED. 'BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY,' HE SAID, 'IT IS A SYMBOL OF SAUDI ARAMCO'S COMMITMENT TO THE WORLD TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE OIL SUPPLIES RELIABLY, SAFELY AND IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY FASHION.' HE SAID THE COMPANY'S BURGEONING TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES BODE WELL FOR ITS LONG-TERM EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION GOALS. THE HARADH GOSP-3 COMPLEX WAS COMPLETED UNDER BUDGET AND FIVE MONTHS AHEAD OF ITS ORIGINAL 26-MONTH SCHEDULE - FASTER EVEN THAN SHAYBAH, THE COMPANY'S PREVIOUS BENCHMARK FOR SPEED OF COMPLETION. HARADH GOSP-1 CAME ON-STREAM IN MARCH 1996, FOLLOWED BY GOSP-2 IN APRIL 2003: EACH ADDED 300,000 BPD OF PRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY'S OUTPUT. --MORE 10 13 LOCAL TIME 07 13 GMT
