Saudi oil minister says Haradh field to add 300,000 barrels a day

VIENNA (MarketWatch) — Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Naimi told reporters Wednesday that he expects the kingdom’s Haradh oil field “production to be at 300,000 barrels a day by April 1.”

Naimi added that ConocoPhillips (COP) had submitted the best bid for its 400,000 b/d Yanbu refinery and Total SA (TOT) has entered the best bid for its 400,000 b/d Persian Gulf refinery project at Jubail.

The kingdom’s state-run oil company Saudi Aramco (C.SOI) is still assessing the bids, he said, though he gave no further details.

The refineries are expected to cost around $4 billion-$5 billion each to build.

The Haradh field will boost Saudi Arabia’s production capacity to 11.3 million b/d by mid-year and it will produce light crude oil.

MarketWatch