Saudi to double oil refining capacity in five years: Nuaimi
AFP
RIYADH
Petroleumworld.com 02 15 06
Saudi Arabia plans to double its oil refining capacity to six
million barrels per day (bpd) within five years, Oil Minister
Ali al-Nuaimi said Tuesday.
The OPEC kingpin's "main goal is the stability of world oil
markets. It is currently working on huge oil projects, including
raising crude oil production capacity and doubling the capacity
of oil refineries to six million bpd within the next five years,"
the state SPA news agency quoted him as saying.
Nuaimi made his remarks during a meeting with visiting Dutch Foreign
Minister Bernard Bot.
Riyadh's objective is to "meet the world's increasing demand
for oil," Nuaimi said.
Nawaf Obaid, managing director of Saudi National Security Assessment
Project, a government consultancy, told an oil conference in September
the kingdom has earmarked 20 billion dollars for the upgrade project.
The program would boost the capacity of eight refineries Riyadh
owns inside and outside Saudi Arabia within the next five years,
besides building new refineries locally and abroad, he said.
The Saudi and Dutch ministers discussed the importance of ensuring
secure oil supplies and cooperation between their two countries
in oil matters, including joint investments, SPA said.
Saudi Arabia currently has a refining capacity of around three
million bpd through facilities both at home and overseas, of which
around two million bpd are produced in the kingdom.
The Gulf kingdom, which pumps around 9.5 million bpd and is the
world's top crude exporter, plans to hike its output capacity
from the current 11 million bpd to 12.5 million bpd in 2009.
AFP
02/14/06
Copyright
© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
Send
this story to a friend
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write
to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels
|
|
