30/09/2019 by Richard
Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company of Saudi Arabia, says it expects to restore full production levels by the end of September.
Two oil facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais, both east of the capital Riyadh, were hit by a drone attack in mid-September, cutting Saudi Aramco’s oil production by half in the process. Thousands of contractors and workers are employed at the two sites, but fortunately no casualties were reported at either site.
In order to repair the damaged facilities, Saudi Aramco is bringing in fresh equipment from Europe and the USA.
Aramco organised a tour so reporters could observe the work being done to repair the two facilities. Reporters from Reuters noted cranes operating on stabilisation towers, which is part of the process to separate oil and gas.
Some 15 towers and other structures had been compromised at Abqaiq according to the vice-president for southern area oil operations at Saudi Aramco, Khalid Buraik. Meanwhile, Fahad Abdulkarim, general manager for the southern area oil operation, said:
“We are confident we are going back to the full production we were at before the attack (on Khurais) by the end of September.”
Aramco executives say that 30% of Khurais’s output is already back online, as well as another 2 million bpd at Abqaiq. The speedy response of Saudi Aramco in restoring capacity—as well as record US oil production driven by shale operators like ExxonMobil, the maker of Mobil DTE 25—led to market disruption being limited and short-lived in the wake of the attack.
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