Saudi Aramco's program to increase crude oil production received a significant boost recently with the signing of all five major contracts for the expansion of crude-oil production at the remote Shaybah field. A signing ceremony was held in Dhahran, attended by members of Saudi Aramco executive and general management, and representatives of local and international contractors. Contracts were signed with SNC-Lavalin of Canada for the main engineering, procurement and construction portion of the Central Producing Facilities and with Hyundai Heavy Industries for power generation. Local contractors, Energy and Power Contracting Co., Haif Co. and Ahmad Al-Binali and Sons, were awarded power transmission, residential-complex and site-development contracts, respectively. Ali A. Al Ajmi, vice president of Project Management, opened the ceremony, noting that Saudi Aramco and its business partners have been chartered to undertake a program of monumental importance and weight. He discussed program goals, including achievement of schedule milestones, use of locally manufactured materials and increased employment for Saudi workers. Al-Ajmi welcomed the integrated-team approach that sees employees from operations and other organizations assigned to the project management teams. Finally, Al-Ajmi noted that he would be following the project's progress through periodic assessments. The program marks the expansion of an oil field that is among the most remote in Saudi Arabia, in the Rub' al-Khali, about 600 kilometers from Abqaiq and 145 km south of the Arabian Gulf. Shaybah field is about 13 km wide and 64 km long. When the plant goes on-stream at the end of 2008, production from the Shaybah field will be boosted by 250,000 barrels per day. Future plant expansions have been provided for so that additional increments can be carried out without major disruptions.
