•Came onstream three months ahead of schedule and within budget - the latest in a string of similarly successful mega projects.

•First Saudi Aramco facility to produce Arabian Light crude oil by blending Arabian Extra Light, Light and Medium grades.
•Contains the company's largest co-generation plant, providing sufficient electrical power (140 megawatts) and steam for Qatif Plants.
•Qatif field, discovered in 1945 north of Dhahran, includes seven oil-bearing reservoirs, three of which are in production.
•A total of 151 wells were drilled on 34 wellsites, and each is equipped for remote monitoring. The latest optimisation drilling methods were used, including extended-reach and multilateral wells, viscoelastic diverting acid, a permanent downhole monitoring system and smokeless flaring.
•The largest crude increment in the world built in recent times.
•Is a key component of Saudi Aramco's commitment to ensuring that its maximum sustainable crude oil production capacity is adequate for the kingdom's objectives and to those of the world at large.
•Designed to produce 500,000 bpd of blended Arabian Light Crude from the Qatif field and 300,000 bpd of Arabian Medium from the Abu Sa'fah field, plus 370 million standard cubic feet per day (scfd) of associated gas and 40,000 bpd of high-value condensate.
•All crude is desalted, stabilized and processed, then shipped to Ju'aymah and Ras Tanura terminals for export. The gas is processed at Berri Gas Plant.
•All structural steel used in the plants, and all the vessels, were made in-kingdom. Overall, 30 per cent of the construction materials were bought domestically.
•Required three million design work-hours and 70 million construction work-hours. At the peak of construction, in July 2003, more than 15,000 workers representing 20 nationalities were engaged in the programme.
•The Saudi Aramco team that supervised development and construction was nearly 100 per cent Saudi.