Saudi Arabia-Upstream Development Plans

In the early 1990s, Saudi Arabia was engaged in five major programs to raise production capacity of crude oil to 10 million bpd by the mid-1990s. The overall plan was originally scheduled for completion in 1998, but accelerated activity in the wake of the gulf crisis and the allocation of additional funds has moved the projected completion date to 1994. The cost of this program has jumped from US$13 billion to between US$17 billion to US$20 billion. The needs associated with the gulf crisis largely entailed activating existing capacity, which lay unused after output fell in the mid-1980s. This requirement involved recommissioning nearly 150 wells and 12 GOSPs. By the end of 1990, that effort yielded total sustainable capacity of 8.8 million bpd. In addition to the war effort, Saudi Aramco has been involved in bringing on-line a number of GOSPs in existing and known areas such as As Saffaniyah, Al Uthmaniyah, and Abqaiq, all in the Eastern Province. Finally, Saudi Aramco began development of its new light crude oil finds in the central region, with the expectation that it could produce 150,000 bpd of Arab Super Light from Al Hawtah field, south of Riyadh. Following Saudi Aramco's mandate to conduct such activities in the entire country, it has begun exploration in nontraditional areas such as the central region and along the Red Sea coast. Prior to the gulf crisis, AOC and Getty Oil had plans to step up their exploration and development activity. These have been revised in light of the damage to existing facilities sustained during the war.

Data as of December 1992