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Aramco sees Karan gas by 2011



By Upstream staff 

Saudi Aramco is aiming to start a billion cubic feet per day of production from its offshore Karan natural gas field in 2011, a top official of the Saudi state oil company Aramco said today.

"Earlier this year we made a major discovery in the Gulf at Karan and we hope to have that gas delivered to market by 2011," Kalid Falih, Saudi Aramco's senior vice president for industrial relations, told reporters at an industry event in London.

Aramco announced the discovery of the field in April, Reuters reported.

The gas will be processed at the Khursaniyah natural gas plant, Falih said. That plant's capacity will be doubled to two billion cubic feet per day to deal with Karan gas, he said.

The plant is still under construction and is part of the infrastructure for the 500,000-barrels-per-day Khursaniyah oilfield due onstream in June 2007.

"Domestically we will be boosting our production of natural gas and expanding our natural gas system to meet growing demand from utilities and our thriving industrial centres," Falih said.

Aramco should know by the end of the year if early drilling for natural gas by its SRAK joint venture with France's Total and Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell has been successful, Falih said.

SRAK began drilling for gas in October and will drill seven wells over the next two years in Saudi Arabia's empty quarter.

The kingdom, the world's largest oil exporter, faces increasing demand for natural gas from its rapidly growing population, expanding industrial sector and ambitious new petrochemical projects.


Tuesday, 07 November, 2006, 21:11 GMT  | last updated: Tuesday, 07 November, 2006, 21:11 GMT

Aramco: waiting on SRAK results
 

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