Saudi Aramco's Haradh Arab Light Crude Increment-III Projects, which will add 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of higher value light crude oil to Saudi output, is 70 per cent complete and on track for completion in the first quarter of 2006, Saudi Aramco said.

"The construction phase is 70 per cent complete, with all the major process equipment installed, about 1,090 tonnes of structure steel erected and more than 3,100 tonnes of steel piping materials received," the company statement said. "On completion and commission in the first quarter of 2006, the Haradh gas/oil separation plant GOSP-3 will produce 300,000 bpd of Arab light crude and approximately 160 million cu ft per day of associated gas," it added. The project involves collecting wet crude from the south corner of the giant South Ghawar oilfield at Haradah by using a high pressure production trap.
Associated gas will be separated from the wet crude and will be compressed for transportation via pipelines to the gas processing plant.
More than 150 km (94 miles) of pipelines, new and extensions, have been built to transport seawater and processed salt water for injection to maintain reservoir pressure.
Also, around 160 km of new pipelines and extensions to the existing crude and gas pipelines are being constructed to transport the crude and gas products from Haradh GOSP-3 to processing facilities at Abqaiq and Uthmaniyah, Aramco said.
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia challenged contractors to try to complete work on the Haradth project six months ahead of schedule for a first quarter 2006 start-up as the Kingdom presses ahead with a capacity expansion plan that it says will add 1.5 million bpd of new capacity by 2009.