Saudi Aramco: Manifa project starts first phase of production

Saudi Aramco said the first phase production start-up at the Manifa field commenced recently, 3 months ahead of schedule and well under the program’s approved budget. The Manifa field’s production capacity is expected to reach 500,000 bpd by July 2013, and is planned to reach its full design capacity of 900,000 bpd of Arabian Heavy crude oil by the end of 2014, while Saudi Aramco’s maximum sustained capacity will be maintained at the level preceding Manifa production. Last October, Ali Al-Naimi, minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Saudi Aramco’s chairman of the board of directors, led the board members on a review tour of the Manifa field production facilities and inaugurated reservoir water injection along the perimeter of the Manifa field. The Manifa project is unique in many ways with its innovative engineering design to develop the field’s optimum production capacity, while caring for the environment and optimizing its budget. The Manifa field includes dry-land rigs linked by a total of 41 kilometers of causeways with a number of elevated bridges designed to maintain natural water flow in the Manifa Bay and preserving natural marine nurseries. Including a 420-MW heat and electricity plant, the project employed best in class technologies in infrastructure, drilling and production activities consuming more than 80 million man hours without a lost time injury, one of the best safety records in the industry, which qualified the project to receive the “Innovative Oil Project of the Year” award. Speaking to Saudi Aramco’s leadership and employees, president and chief executive officer, Khalid A. Al-Falih, congratulated the Manifa Project team on their multiple successes by bringing Manifa on stream three months ahead of schedule in line with operational excellence, safety and environmental stewardship and reaching high level of Saudization in operations, mainly attributable to Saudi Aramco’s investments in human resources, operations and infrastructure developments. “The Manifa story will be a very bright and shining example in our corporate history,” he said. “It really opens a new page in terms of overcoming various hurdles and complexities most notably through human and technological innovation,” said the CEO. It is a testimony to the company’s values, particularly citizenship, by caring for the environment, Saudization and relying on national vendors to the maximum extent.” Al-Falih also praised training programs offered by the company to its employees on the latest techniques in the design, construction, and operation of mega and advanced oil projects. Sourse: ArabNews