Oil Pipelines: Spreading the Network
- Pipeline
- Saudi Aramco News
- Industry News
Author: Aramco ExPats
Released 7 October 2006
With an increase in production, Saudi Aramco has begun planning major investments in its kingdom-wide pipeline network.
The East-West pipeline that runs from Abqaiq to Yanbu is the backbone of Saudi Aramco’s 15,000 kilometer pipeline network. At 1,200 kilometers, the 48-inch-diameter pipeline was built in 1981. Known as the Petroline, its initial capacity was 1.85 million b/d.
Regular maintenance and upgrade of the East-West pipeline and the NGL trunklines have been Aramco’s top priority.
Abqaiq Pipeline being built; Agnes Drumm walking the pipeline.
Photograph by Willard Drumm (1960)*
“It is the biggest oil pipeline and it transports nearly 50 per cent of Aramco’s total crude oil output,” says an industry executive. At present, Aramco produces 9.5 million b/d of various grades of Arabian crude.
Bids are due to be submitted late this month for an estimated $500 million contract to install three NGL pipeline loops in the Shedgum-Yanbu section of the trunkline. Already this year, a contract was awarded for the installation of an intermediate pumping station at Pump Station 6. All of this will result in a capacity that will increase to 555,000 b/d upon completion.
New oil field development projects by Aramco will also lead to the construction of several in-field pipelines. By 2009, a total of more than 1,350 kilometers of new oil, natural gas and NGL pipelines of varying diameters will be laid in the kingdom.
The biggest development will cover the 1.2 million b/d Khurais redevelopment, which will call for the installation of a 750-kilometer network in the Eastern Province. This will be followed by the offshore Manifa development, which will entail the installation of 335 kilometers of pipeline.
Photograph contributed to Aramco ExPats by Grady Early, nephew of Willard and Agnes Drumm.