Saudi Aramco expands its oil rig fleet by 100 per cent

Saudi Aramco is expanding its drilling rig fleet by 100 percent over a two-year period, going from 55 in 2004 to a planned 110 in 2006.

The oil company, which is the biggest producer of crude oil in the world, announced the increase in a statement on its web site saying that it is to meet plans to drill several hundred wells in the next several years, part of the ambitious expansion of Saudi Arabia ’s crude oil and gas program. “This is the most aggressive ramp-up of drilling activity in the history of the oil industry.” said the statement
One of the recently contracted rigs is the massive 3,000-horsepower Ensco 76 deep gas exploration rig. “This is the largest rig Saudi Aramco has ever contracted,” said Fahad Mulaik, a superintendent in Northern Area Oil Drilling Operations. “It will be used to perform deep gas exploration drilling operations in several locations throughout the Arabian Gulf.”

“We will be using very specialized equipment for this operation,” said Tom Emmons, Ensco 76 drilling engineer. “That’s because the target wells will be some of the most challenging that Saudi Aramco has ever drilled due to the high temperature and high pressure of these wells.

Asharq Alawsat