Saudi Aramco Official: People, Production and Technology are

MANAMA, Bahrain, March 31, SPA -- People, production and technology
are the keys to the future. “These are the elements that I believe
are essential to a sound strategy for ensuring outstanding
performance and meeting the challenges of the future,” said senior
Vice President of Exploration and Producing Amin H. Nasser.

Nasser's remarks have set up the tone for the 16th Middle East Oil
and Gas Show and Conference, MEOS 2009, held recently at Bahrain’s
International Exhibition Center.


Dr. Abdul-Hussain bin Ali Mirza, Bahraini Minister of Oil and Gas
Affairs and Chairman of the Bahrain National Oil and Gas Authority,
had inaugurated the conference under the theme “People, Demand,
Technology – Bridging the Gaps.”


Nasser spoke about Saudi Aramco’s strategy to address future
challenges and outlined its four principal elements: natural
resources with a large reserves base; appropriate development and
application of technology; qualified and well-trained human
resources; and responsible stewardship of the hydrocarbon fields and
the environment.

“It is estimated that the world has a total resource endowment of
about 7 trillion barrels of conventional oil and another 7 trillion
of non-conventional oil,” Nasser said. “Of course, not all of these
barrels are recoverable.”


The world has produced and consumed nearly one trillion barrels of
oil and has about 1.2 trillion more in current proven recoverable
reserves.


“Saudi Aramco has 742 billion barrels of discovered oil resources,”
he said. “Some of this oil has already been produced — about 116
billion barrels — leaving 260 billion barrels as the current proven
remaining reserves.”


This recoverable proportion makes up 50 percent of Saudi Aramco’s
total oil resources.


Nasser assured the audience that Saudi Aramco is using these
resources to respond to global demand, as can be witnessed by the
largest capital expansion program in the company’s 75-year history,
in fields such as Khurasaniya, Khurais, Nuayyim, the Shaybah
expansion and Manifa.



“Saudi Aramco has taken the lead in developing the most advanced
reservoir simulator in the industry, which has broken several
industry records during its development,” he said.


“Resbots is the name we use for our invention of reservoir robots,
or reservoir nanorobots,” said Nasser. He explained that large
numbers of Resbots will be sent into the reservoir with injected
water. They will move in the reservoir, carried by the reservoir
fluids, and record reservoir pressure, temperature, fluid type and
other properties. The Resbots will continue their journey right up
through production, where they will be retrieved to download all the
information they have gathered.


Equally important is the human factor, he said. “Indeed, the human
capital is our most important asset.”


“We are moving into a digital, intelligent era, and upstream
technology is becoming highly sophisticated,” Nasser said. “We have
to approach bridging the gap between people and technology
differently. … All disciplines have to understand each other and work
in synergy.”


“So, we are embarking on creating a world-class Upstream
Professional Development Center to be completed by next year,” he
said. “We expect around 500 fresh graduates and experienced
professionals to participate in this center, and we want them to hit
the ground running.”

--SPA