Saudi Aramco Announces Indefinite Delay Of Startup Of Khursaniyah Field Upgrade - Bloomberg

[hatrack]

Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Aramco, the world's largest state- owned oil company, delayed the start of production from its 500,000 barrel-a-day Khursaniyah oil-field project and said it will meet market demand with existing spare capacity. ``Saudi Aramco stands ready to meet market demands with ample spare capacity, including 1 million barrels of Arab Light crude,'' the company said in an e-mailed statement today.

Khursaniyah will commence ``upon completion of commissioning activities,'' Saudi Aramco said. The company didn't say when production would start, after it missed a December deadline.

The project, which will produce and process 500,000 barrels a day of Arabian Light crude and 300 million square cubic feet a day of natural gas, is part of Saudi Arabia plans to increase its output capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day by 2009 to help meet demand for oil. The program covers the onshore Abu Hadriya, Fadhili and Khursaniyah oil fields near the city of Jubail on Saudi Arabia's Persian Gulf coast and a gas plant.

Aramco is seeking to add 1.2 million barrels a day of Arabian Light from the Khurais field by 2009, according to its Web site. The Shaybah field, in the southeast desert known as the Empty Quarter, will produce 750,000 barrels a day by 2008 from 500,000 barrels a day. The Manifa project will add 900,000 barrels a day of heavy crude from fields in the Persian Gulf from mid-2011.

EDIT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aR7UEgivEbls

[Strelnikov_]

1. So much for the 'Magic Hand' of the market

If 2.631 Yergins/bbl won't get em to sell, a commoner like me has to wonder . . .

[pscot]

2. They're keeping their powder dry

N/T