Page 5 - MEOG Week 11 2023

MEOG COMMENTARY MEOG

Gas Expansion Plans

Source: Aramco

Operations read the company’s results report.
Following two years of apparent stagnation in For the first time, Aramco made public plans
terms of upstream capacity, Aramco reported for the Safaniya field, noting in a presentation to
total hydrocarbon production of 13.6mn bar- investors that it would deliver around 350,000
rels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), marking bpd during 2027, with another 250,000 bpd
an increase of 1.3mn boepd compared to a year thereafter, but added that the project is still pend-
earlier. ing a final investment decision (FID).
The breakdown of the increase was some- Supporting rising oil production is Aramco
what obfuscated by Aramco’s lack of a split of its Trading Co. (ATC), which is rapidly raising its
total liquids production, which rose 11% from traded volumes.
10.36mn barrels per day (bpd) to 11.5mn bpd, With Aramco exporting 7.1mn bpd in 2022,
though crude will account for the lion’s share of ATC traded 6.7mn bpd of crude and refined
around 10mn bpd, followed by propane, butane, products, up 1mn bpd year-on-year. The trader
natural gasoline and condensate. also handled the sale of 2.7mn tonnes of liquid
Focus is clearly on upstream expansion, with chemicals products, up from 2.4mn tonnes a
Nasser and Murshed both commenting several year earlier.
times on Aramco’s efforts to increase crude oil Expansion is also on the cards in gas, with
maximum sustainable capacity (MSC) from Aramco setting a target of upwards of 50% pro-
12mn bpd to 13mn bpd by 2027. duction growth by 2030 as it seeks to replace
While the company gave upstream opera- oil-fired power generation, decarbonising the
tions its customary light touch update, it reit- economy and freeing up around 1mn bpd of
erated previous statements about the various liquids for refining, conversion to chemicals or
projects that will contribute to this expansion. export in crude form.
Following the completion of projects at the Gas production was reported at 10.6bn cubic
Ain Dar (100,000 bpd) and Fazran (75,000 bpd) feet (300mn cubic metres) per day, represent-
areas of the supergiant Ghawar oilfield last year, ing an increase of 4.7%. Despite the increase,
Aramco’s crude increment programmes – cov- the projects spoken of in this year’s update –
ering the Berri, Dammam Marjan, Safaniya and Haradh and Hawiyah gas fields and the Hawi-
Zuluf assets – are targeting 1.2mn bpd of new yah Unayzah gas storage – were the same as the
output, meeting the target and offsetting decline year before.
elsewhere. Aramco said that commissioning activities
“Construction and engineering activities for the compression projects at the Haradh and
for the Marjan and Berri crude oil increments Hawiyah fields are underway, and full capacity is
are underway and expected to add production expected to be reached this year. Meanwhile, the
capacity of 300,000 bpd and 250,000 bpd, respec- Hawiyah Unayzah project is in “advanced stages
tively, by 2025. The Zuluf crude oil increment is of construction” with injection having begun.
in the engineering phase and expected to pro- The project seen providing up to 2 bcf (57 mcm)
vide a central facility to process a total of 600,000 per day of gas for reintroduction to the Master
bpd of crude oil from the Zuluf field by 2026,” Gas System by 2024.™

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