Delivery: Saudi Aramco says it is on track to deliver 1 million barrels per day of domestic capacity by 2009
Saudi Arabia tops up tank
Saudi Aramco says it is on track to add a million barrels per day to domestic production capacity by the end of 2009, and the massive upstream push at fields like Manifa is attracting big-name contractors like bees to honey.
Success has proved harder to find, however, for the international consortia hunting for natural gas in the Empty Quarter with no significant discoveries to date.
Record crude oil prices are driving the expansion effort with $1 billion-per-day revenues giving the regime the leeway to stave off social discontent, even at the expense of increasing inflation.
Upstream correspondents assess the progress in this special Focus.