Saudi Shaybah oilfield new pipeline near complete
Reuters, 05.01.2010
KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Work on expanding a pipeline at Saudi Arabia's Shaybah oilfield will be finished soon, two industry sources said on Tuesday.
State oil firm Saudi Aramco said in June it had completed work on expanding capacity at Shaybah to 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 500,000 bpd. The project was one of three that it completed in 2009 that brought total output capacity of the world's top oil exporter to 12.5 million bpd.
While work on bringing headline crude production capacity is complete, work on transporting and processing the crude continues.
The pipeline connects to a new plant that separates gas and oil at Shaybah and connects it to an existing pipeline that takes crude to the Gulf Arab states huge producing, pumping and processing facility at Abqaiq.
"The main work is completed," a source said, adding the pipeline would be completed in a month.
Aramco awarded the contract to build the 217 kilometre-long pipeline, known as Shabab 2, to Russian firm Stroytransgaz in 2007.
The existing 640 kilometre pipeline, Shabab 1, already transports crude from the other three gas and oil separation plants at Shaybah to Abqaiq.
(Reporting by Reem Shamseddine; editing by James Jukwey)
