Past, Present and Future - Amin Nasser Looks Back, Forward 75 Years
- Pipeline
- Saudi Aramco News
- Dhahran Media
Login to leave ratings
Author: Saudi Aramco News
Released 6 February 2008
AL-KHOBAR, February 06, 2008 -- For 75 years, Saudi Aramco has discovered, developed and produced the Kingdom’s resources.
“Those 75 years were challenging, interesting and exciting. However, the next 75 years are going to be even more interesting and more exciting - full of challenges but also full of opportunities,” Amin H. Nasser, Exploration and Producing business line head, told Dhahran Geoscience Society (DGS) members at its Jan. 29 DGS meeting. Nasser’s speech was titled “75 Years Past to 75 Years Ahead: A Journey of Discovery.”
Amin H. Nasser
“Those 75 years (of Saudi Aramco history) were challenging, interesting and exciting. However, the next 75 years are going to be even more interesting and more exciting – full of challenges but also full of opportunities.”
Global energy consumption is expected to increase by more than 30 percent in the next 20 years, most of which will come from oil and gas. With the Kingdom holding the world’s largest reserves, all eyes are on Saudi Aramco.
“In fact, Saudi Aramco will need to tackle the future challenges in the short, medium and long terms and also in rising complexity. In order to meet these future challenges, a balanced strategy is required,” Nasser said.
He identified four tenets of that balanced strategy: natural resources, human resources, technology and reservoir stewardship. “The strength of Saudi Aramco is in the ability to optimally coordinate all these four essential elements,” Nasser said.
Natural resources, he said, have three components: oil originally discovered or “oil initially in place”; current, proven, recoverable reserves that represent roughly one-fourth of the world’s total proven reserves; and increases in discovery and recovery targets in the medium and long terms. Those targets, he said, are backed by science, planning and assessments. “Not only that, but we are tracking these targets every year to make sure that we are on the right path toward achieving them.”
Speaking of the second tenet, technology, Nasser said Saudi Aramco has a proven track record of deploying and developing appropriate technologies. The right investment in technology has been critical to Saudi Aramco’s successes so far, and it is going to be even more critical in the journey ahead, he said.
Concerning human resources, Nasser said Saudi Aramco firmly believes human capital is Saudi Aramco’s most important asset. Addressing the large audience of geoscientists present at the DGS meeting, he added: “Geoscientists are core members of teams that complement the role of discovering new resources.”
Developing human resources is increasingly important. Along those lines, Nasser announced the creation of a world-class Upstream Professional Development Center. The objective of the center would be to train professionals in an intensive, immersive and integrated environment. The center, to be completed in mid-2010, will be built next to the EXPEC Advanced Research Center and only a few meters from EXPEC. “This center will include 3D visualization rooms, state-of-the-art classrooms and simulation rooms, such as drilling simulators and I-Field simulators, that will be utilized to train geoscientists and engineers,” Nasser said.
“The most important tenet — the fourth and final tenet — of our balanced strategy is reservoir stewardship. This stems from Saudi Aramco’s unique position as the sole custodian of the Kingdom’s resources,” Nasser said. That sense of responsibility means Saudi Aramco will always take the long-term view in developing the fields, ensuring sustainable performance.
The operational impacts of the balanced strategy are many. They include the giant Karan gas discovery, Haradh Increment III using 32 smart complex wells to produce 300,000 barrels per day, Ghawar water management, with its low water cut, and the current 57 percent-plus recovery rate in the Abqaiq Arab-D reservoir.
Nasser concluded with a challenge to the geoscientists: “It is exciting to think of the future not just in terms of challenges but also in terms of solutions. It is exciting to think not why it cannot be done but how it can be done.”