As the finishing touches are applied to the Shaybah Expansion Project, the facility's Arab Extra Light oil production is set to increase by a quarter-million barrels per day. The four-year construction project added a gas-oil separation plant (GOSP) and expanded gas compression injection facilities and power generation as well as the pipelines to transport the crude. For Saudi Aramco Project Management employees and those from other organizations training along with the company's partners, the construction project has been a whirlwind of activity. Shaybah is spread over 130 subkhas, or salt flats, separated by massive dunes of red sand that tower above them, which can make communication difficult. The transmission network was expanded to four times its previous scope. Three radio sites were placed on dunes, and a new radio-by-fiber-optic technology provided some subkhas with communication, according to a latest report carried by Saudi Aramco's web-site. --MORE
