Saudi charming

If more oil than that is required after 2010, Jumah said 20 million b/d “may be doable” but said Aramco had yet to flesh out the plan to get there. David Knapp in New York

Energyintel
Saudi Arabia is continuing the charm initiative started in April 2004 to assure oil markets that it is prepared to deliver enough additional oil production to maintain its stated target of 1.5 million-2 million b/d of spare capacity: All this without sacrificing a longstanding operating principle of extracting now more than 2% of a field’s reserves in any given year, thereby assuring fifty-year field lives. Saudi Aramco’s President Abdullah Jumah spoke to an energy conference in Houston this week, saying that the company is on track to raise capacity to 12 million b/d by 2010, from 10.5 million b/d today, and has a project-specific strategy to get to 15 million b/d if needed, both targets accounting for declines in older fields. If more oil than that is required after 2010, Jumah said 20 million b/d “may be doable” but said Aramco had yet to flesh out the plan to get there. David Knapp in New York