by Graeme » Sun 13 Oct 2013, 16:37:19
Gulf oil production hits record
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Gulf states are producing more oil than ever before, defying expectations that the US shale revolution would break their 40-year grip on the global oil market and diminish their importance to the world’s consuming nations.
Surging production in North America is expected to eat into the market for oil from Opec. But the quartet of Gulf kingdoms that dominate the cartel of oil exporters have so far emerged unscathed. Instead, they have expanded their share of the world market as political and social factors have reduced production from a number other members.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar set aggregate production records in each of the last three months, according to fresh estimates from the International Energy Agency. In September they accounted for 18 per cent of global demand – a level only matched twice in IEA data stretching back to the 1980s.
The principal beneficiaries have been Saudi Arabia, which has increased output more than 10 per cent since the start of the year to a record of 10.19m b/d in August, and the UAE where the 2.77m b/d produced in September was a record, and 7 per cent higher than at the start of the year. Kuwait has also set a series of production records this year, but Qatar has been unable to raise production significantly.
FTSaudi Aramco to expand Shaybah, Khurais oil output in 2016-17$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Aramco, will increase light sour crude output from two fields—Shaybah and Khurais—by 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2016-2017, to rebalance its crude quality and extend the lifespan of mature fields.
The expansions of the fields will start up “within a few months of each other,” Chief Executive Khalid A. Al-Falih said on Sunday.
Shaybah would come first, by the end of 2016 or early 2017, the head of Saudi Arabia’s national oil company told reporters on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress, confirming a July report from Thomson Reuters on the expansion.
“This will bring it up to a million barrels (per day). We’re in the process of awarding the contract in the next few days,” he said, adding that an ongoing project at Shaybah will also add 250,000 bpd of natural gas liquids output in end-2014.
The Khurais expansion project was at the front-end engineering stage and the expansion to increase the field’s output by 300,000 bpd to 1.5 million bpd should be completed by 2017, he said.
“This will basically allow us to relax production from the more matured fields and reservoirs and extend them and also to rebalance our crude slate,” Al-Falih said.
Referring to the giant new Manifa oilfield, which started production earlier this year, he said “we’re tilting towards more heavy (crude).”
“So we wanted to introduce more extra light, a little more light from Khurais, that will basically allow us to match the market needs while at the same time having that extended plateau.”