Round-the-clock work are paying dividend at the Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq oil facility and Khurais oilfield as officials say that they are ahead of schedule in restoring production to pre-attack level. Many western media had expressed skepticism over initial Aramco claim that it would restore full production at Abqaiq by September end. It is worth mentioning here that the two facilities’ combined production constitutes 5 percent of global oil production and drones attack has pushed the panic button in the international market. The Kingdom showed its responsibility toward global fraternity and announced that despite attack and the then suspension of production, the country will keep its commitment and maintain oil supply to world market by tapping its inventories.
The restoration of output has helped Aramco to shift its focus on its Planned Initial Public Offering (IPO). The company on its website announced that it plans to pay a base dividend of $75 billion in 2020.
Aramco has been courting investors for the IPO, for which it seeks to achieve a $2 trillion valuation. For the past few weeks international and national banks have been busy in assessing in valuation.
The listing of Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, is the idea of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who wants to shake up the Saudi economy and diversify away from oil. The IPO appears to be proceeding despite uncertainty over the timeline following a Sept. 14 attack on Aramco’s facilities.
However, the production restoration has restored confidence of investors. Initially the attack has caused steep rise in price in international market. But the restoration of production announcement brought some sanity back to the world market and oil prices stabilized after initial knee-jerk reaction.
Saudi Aramco has now restored production at the Abqaiq processing facility and Khurais oil field to levels seen before the attack, according to company sources.
Aramco had revealed the significant damage caused by aerial strikes on its Khurais oil field and Abqaiq crude-processing plant, and had then insisted that the sites will be back to pre-attack output levels by the end of the month.
National and international media persons were taken to the two attack sites for a first look inside the facilities, where equipment was scorched and ruptured. While officials promised the plants would be repaired quickly, they also said they were still in the process of evaluating whether some equipment could be fixed or would have to be completely replaced.
The Khurais field and processing plant resumed 30% of production within 24 hours of the strike and began to produce 1.2 million barrels a day by the end of last month.
The Khurais field has a maximum output capacity of 1.45 million barrels a day and processes all of its oil on site. The assault affected four of its crude-stabilization units — 90-meter (300-foot) towers that reduce pressure and remove gas from the crude. One of the columns shown to reporters was a charred wreck, and at least one other was even more badly damaged.
The tour of the Abqaiq plant, which processes crude oil from fields including Ghawar also showed extensive damages. The smell of natural gas and other hydrocarbons hung over some areas of the facility. A huge sheet of twisted metal that had been struck by missiles was laid out next to a damaged tank for reporters. Saudi Aramco will kick off its much-anticipated initial public offering next month as the oil giant recovers faster than expected from the biggest terror attacks in its history.
SOURCE : ALBILAD
