Huge Saudi Field Begins Production Ahead of Schedule

Abstract

Manifa Saudi Aramco started production in April at its Manifa field, the fifth-largest oil field in the world, 3 months ahead of schedule. The field’s output reached 500,000 BOPD of crude from a network of wells drilled through manmade islands. By the time it is fully operational in December 2014, the offshore field is forecast to produce 900,000 BOPD of Arabian Heavy crude oil, 90 MMscf/D of sour gas, and 65,000 B/D of hydrocarbon condensate. Manifa is one of the largest engineering projects in the world, involving 41 km of causeways, 3 km of bridges, 27 drilling islands, 13 offshore platforms, 15 onshore drillsites, water supply wells, injection facilities, multiple pipelines, and a 420 MW heat and electricity plant, not to mention the relocation of an entire coral reef. After the Khurais project, the USD 9.28 billion Manifa field development is the second-largest project being developed by Saudi Aramco, as part of its effort to boost its production capacity to 12.5 million BOPD by 2015. Discovered in 1957, Manifa is located in the shallow waters southeast of the Safaniyah field, about 200 km north-west of Dhahran, with estimated proven reserves of 10 billion bbl. The field has six oil-bearing reservoirs: Upper Ratawi, Lower Ratawi, Manifa, Arab A, Arab B, and Arab C/D. The reservoirs for incremental development are the two most prolific: the Lower Ratawi and Manifa reservoirs. Production from the field dates back to 1964 following the drilling of eight development wells. However, the facilities were mothballed in 1985 because of the heaviness of the crude. Early Start Planning for the Manifa project began in 2006 when global oil demand was soaring, and the front-end engineering and design (FEED) was completed in the third quarter of 2007. The FEED and project management services contract was awarded to Foster Wheeler in November 2006. Foster Wheeler’s remit was the FEED for the central processing facility, detail design, ordering of long lead equipment, coordination of the FEED development across the project including the offshore sections and development of the bid package for the engineering, procurement, and construction stage. The first construction contract was signed in late 2007 and construction was scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2008. The project, however, was consistently delayed with construction beginning in the first quarter of 2010.