12 May 2012 | comments (0) | Saudi Aramco News | by Saudi Aramco News
First Field Test of SmartWater Flood
Saudi Aramco’s EXPEC Advanced Research Center has embarked on a strategic research program tagged “SmartWater Flood” to explore the potential of increasing oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs by tuning properties of injection water (e.g., salinity, ionic composition, interfacial tension, and others).
Field tests have been recently completed successfully demonstrating the potential of increasing oil recovery from Saudi Arabian carbonate reservoirs using conventional seawater injection by tuning the ionic composition of field injection water.
Mohammad Y. Qahtani, vice president of Petroleum Engineering & Development spoke of the trials’ success: “Considering these field trials are the first-ever applications in carbonate reservoirs, they further provided another confirmation that SmartWater Flood has strong potential to be a new recovery method targeting Saudi Aramco carbonate reservoirs.”
Saudi Aramco utilizes water injection in the field periphery to maintain pressure necessary for hydrocarbon production. Leveraging current field injection practices and Saudi Aramco’s existing water injection infrastructure is highly attractive as it is an efficient and economical approach to increasing recovery.
Over the last few years, in-house research efforts have revealed that injection of chemistry-optimized versions of injection seawater provided substantial oil recovery beyond conventional seawater flooding for carbonate rock samples. These results were confirmed and validated through different laboratory studies including surface chemistry, wettability and fluid-rock interaction.
“This milestone could have significant impact on how we will assess and conduct future waterflooding programs within the company,” said Samer AlAshgar, EXPEC ARC manager. “This program is one of EXPEC ARC’s research thrusts towards increasing recovery from our oil fields.”
Moving this technology from lab-scale to field-scale, a roadmap for SmartWater Flood field applications is underway targeting a full demonstration project. The first phase of the roadmap is to conduct several single well tests to prove the concept of SmartWater Flood at field environment.
The series of field trials will continue, leading to a multi-well demonstration pilot project to fully assess and optimize this new recovery mechanism.
12 May 2012 | comments (0) | Saudi Aramco News | by Saudi Aramco News
OSPAS: The Nerve Center of Saudi Aramco
Hosting visiting heads-of-state and international dignataries is no stress for the men and women who work in Saudi Aramco’s Oil Supply and Planning and Scheduling Department (OSPAS). It’s a walk in the park compared to their daily responsibilities.
A world hungry for oil is relying on Saudi Aramco for efficient supply and delivery — that’s what keeps OSPAS and its people busy.
“Our job is to make sure Saudi Aramco’s oil, gas and refined products are fully maximized and delivered to local and global customers with maximum net revenue to Saudi Aramco,” said OSPAS manager Hussain Al-Qahtani.
Comprised of five divisions — Oil; Gas and NGL; Supply Planning and Optimization; Terminal Division; and Refined Products — OSPAS is the nerve center of the company’s operations.
The department is tasked with tracking every drop of oil and cubic foot of gas that is extracted from the Kingdom’s fields. OSPAS ensures they are delivered safely via plants, refineries, pipelines and terminals to Saudi Aramco’s local and global customers.
Their mission is made a little easier thanks to OSPAS’ Operations Coordination Center (OCC).
The OCC acts as a central monitoring and control hub for Saudi Aramco’s hydrocarbon and power operations Kingdom-wide.
Through the sophisticated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, information is gleaned from more than 44,000 real-time data points that are connected to company plants, refineries, gas-oil separation plants, terminals, pipelines and electrical power operations.
The data is then projected onto the centerpiece of OCC — a gigantic electronic video wall that measures 70 meters wide and three meters high.
On the video wall, OSPAS engineers and planners can observe the complete hydrocarbon journey from the wellhead to plant and refinery, then into pipelines and eventually to Saudi Aramco’s export terminals.
Built in 2005, the video wall is unrivalled in the hydrocarbons industry. The OCC updates hydrocarbon data every 15 seconds and power distribution data every two seconds.
The speed of the updates allows OSPAS planners and engineers to react immediately to any emergency or anomaly they spot. Shift superintendents at OSPAS have the ability and authority to control and even shut down operations with the click of a button.
In the OCC, the arrival of huge tankers at the company’s ports and terminals is meticulously planned and coordinated by OSPAS.
“Supply and demand is the key,” said Qahtani. “We are customer focused while at the same time, we have the full picture in regards to supply. We have to factor our production capabilities with our customer’s needs and plan accordingly.”
12 May 2012 | comments (0) | Saudi Aramco News | by Saudi Aramco News
Hundreds Help Clean up in Tanajib
The Third Annual Tanajib Clean-Up Day spearheaded by the Northern Area Projects Department was successfully held recently to promote environmental awareness and social responsibility throughout the Tanajib community.
Despite rain in the early morning, the weather failed to dampen the spirits of more than 250 Saudi Aramco and contractor employees that gathered at the Old Khafji Intersection, where T-shirts, caps and safety gear were distributed to those participating. Shortly after the safety briefing, everybody hit the road and kicked off the clean-up drive.
More than 2,000 bags of debris and assorted waste materials were collected over a 10 km stretch of road between Old Khafji Road and Tanajib Airport to the contractor camp.
To maintain a safe area for participants while they picked up refuse along the road, Industrial Security personnel were deployed to man the clean-up areas.
During the lunch that followed, certificates of appreciation were presented to the participating contractors, Manifa Projects Department, Safaniya Producing Department, Tanajib Community Services and the Industrial Security Operations Department.
6 May 2012 | comments (0) | Saudi Aramco News | by Saudi Aramco News
Saudi Aramco World Goes Online With Spanish, Chinese Versions
The award-winning Saudi Aramco World magazine published by Aramco Services Company (ASC) has reached a new milestone in its history with articles from the current March/April edition available online in two foreign languages — Chinese and Spanish. Until now, the magazine was an English-only publication.
The translation initiative, strongly supported by ASC president Ahmed Al-Zayyat, reaffirms the commitment of the magazine to be a global publication dedicated to broadening the knowledge of the cultures, history and geography of the Arab and Muslim worlds and their connections to the rest of the world. Saudi Aramco World has 165,000 subscribers worldwide and is frequently sought out by educators as a resource and teaching tool in the classroom.
The magazine’s dedicated website has many interactive features, including virtual walking tours and podcasts, and an extensive, publicly available digital photo archive with images available for download. The addition of the article translations represents a step change in the publications’ outreach to its readers.
Icons of the flags of China and Spain are highlighted in the upper right hand corner of the screen and appear for articles that available in those languages. Readers click on the icons, which takes them to their language of choice. While two languages are initially available, plans call for two more to be added with the upcoming May-June issue — Japanese and Korean.
“This initiative is in support of Saudi Aramco’s growing focus on business in the Far East, and in alignment with ATP, which calls for us to strengthen our global presence and distinguish ourselves as a leading energy company,” said Robert Arndt, editor of Saudi Aramco World. He added that there are preliminary discussions under way about publishing printed editions of the magazine in different languages, as well as possibly expanding the number of languages.
Visit the magazine online at www.saudiaramcoworld.com.
6 May 2012 | comments (0) | Saudi Aramco News | by Saudi Aramco News
CEO Sets Ambitious Plan to Train 2 Million Saudis
Highlighting a need for change in the way the Kingdom approaches education, Khalid A. Al-Falih, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, announced the company’s launching of a youth enrichment program that will see 2 million young Saudis receive critical training by 2020 and encouraged young people to create a bright future.
“It is my firm belief that education is the only way,” Al-Falih said April 17 at the International Exhibition of Higher Education in Riyadh.
The CEO noted past and current achievements regarding education in the Kingdom, including a significant improvement in literacy over the past four decades and the investment of billions of riyals in scholarships and infrastructure. That, however, is not enough to secure success in the future.
With more than 35 percent of the Kingdom’s population 15 years and younger, the challenge today is greater than it has ever been, and the need for a different kind of education is just as great.
“In recent decades, the world has undergone structural changes that in the past took centuries to achieve,” Al-Falih said. “The currency of this new realm is knowledge. He added that the dynamics of this changing world will “require us to radically rethink what we know about education, how we manage it and with whom we partner.”
A new model of success
Al-Falih pointed to countries such as Korea and Singapore as models of how to create an education model that masters complex knowledge and constantly reinvents its competitive advantages. It is this kind of education model the Kingdom must follow to be successful in the future.
“Speaking today as a father, an employer and a citizen committed to our nation’s future, I want to emphasize that the rote style of education — stuffing young minds with information — won’t create a capable, adaptive workforce,” he said.
Instead, education must become less of an end product and more of an engine that is interdisciplinary, adaptable and engages students in real-life problems and applications. To do that, Al-Falih pointed to three keys for the Kingdom to transform into a knowledge-based economy.
Science and Technology
Today, the most successful countries employ a learning system that focuses heavily on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. To do that successfully, children must be exposed to these core disciplines at an early age.
Al-Falih shared several Saudi Aramco success stories in these areas, such as:
– The company’s involvement in the Saudi Research Science Institute, a partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Mawhiba and the Center for Excellence in Education in the United States that mentors gifted Saudi 11th-graders in areas such as nanotechnology and computational math.
– Saudi Aramco’s support of BLOSSOMS, or the Blended Learning Open Source Science or Math Studies program, a collaborate effort with Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
– The company’s efforts to support Mathletics, a Web-based program that uses fun and competition to engage students.
Learning how to learn
Lifelong learning is intrinsic to successful organizations, including Saudi Aramco, Al-Falih said. He noted that the company has engrained analytical thinking and continuing education into its culture. For economies in transition to be successful, they also must make lifelong learning a process as much as a value.
“In a knowledge economy, learning is not static,” he said. “It doesn’t end with a certificate.”
To instill this value, Al-Falih said the company is launching Ithra Youth, a new program targeting Saudi youths throughout the Kingdom. The company sponsored national initiative will help teach young people the principles of science, math, engineering and technology skills, as well as special skills to build personal, lifelong learning skills. Beginning in June, the program will provide 500,000 hours of training in 2012 alone.
“And that’s just the beginning,” he said. The program will see 2 million Saudis trained by 2020.
The company will also be helping teachers transition from “teaching to the test” to a more holistic approach, using summer workshops to give teachers an opportunity to explore new ways to connect science and math to real life.
The construction of the King Abdulaziz Center for Culture is also a key component of instilling this new kind of education in the Kingdom’s youth, working to transform into a knowledge society.
Partners in learning
Everyone has a role to play in building a knowledge economy, and the need to form partnerships to bolster the Kingdom’s efforts should not stop at the border. Education must deliver the talent industry needs; likewise, industry must invest in education to ensure a quality workforce.
Al-Falih noted that Saudi Aramco has long worked with learning institutions worldwide, whether through its sponsorship of thousands of students in degree programs in Saudi Arabia or around the world. It also has supported research and teaching through 13 chaired professorships, working with institutions on forming curricula that fit today’s needs. The company also helps Saudi universities reach out to academic institutions in North America, Europe, Australia and the Far East to form international partnerships in research, technology, lifelong learning and cultural exchange.
The future is now
Having more than a third of all Saudis being younger than 15 can be taken either as a challenge or an opportunity.
“Without quality education and work, a young demographic becomes a burden, so educating our young people is only half the task,” Al-Falih said. “They also need good jobs.”
The roadmap set out in the speech can make the Kingdom’s young people not job seekers — but the job creators of tomorrow, he added. With the support of all stakeholders, it may become the Kingdom’s greatest competitive advantage.
The responsibility lies with companies, such as Saudi Aramco, not only to invest in education excellence but also help create jobs that will stimulate and entice bright young workers to enter the workforce.
The responsibility also lies with institutions of higher learning to raise the ceiling so students gain not only knowledge but also a passion for science, innovation and continuing education.
Equally, the responsibility lies with parents, whose roles are as important as those of institutions of higher learning and the business sector in fostering a culture of learning and family values in the bright minds of our children.
Al-Falih concluded with a challenge to the young people to create a future greater than can yet be imagined. “Throughout history, young people have been eager to change the world. Today, dear young people, in light of your interest and support from those around you, do it more than ever before.”
