Aramco to Boost Capacity to 13 Million bpd by 2027

 Oil demand is expected to grow in Q3 2021 to 99 million barrels per day. (Reuters)
Oil demand is expected to grow in Q3 2021 to 99 million barrels per day. (Reuters)
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Aramco to Boost Capacity to 13 Million bpd by 2027

 Oil demand is expected to grow in Q3 2021 to 99 million barrels per day. (Reuters)
Oil demand is expected to grow in Q3 2021 to 99 million barrels per day. (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia’s national oil company will complete its one million barrel per day (bpd) oil output expansion project by 2027 to bring its total production to 13 million bpd, its CEO said on Monday.

“Our maximum sustained capacity from 12 to 13 million (bpd)... is not going to come to full capacity at 13 million bpd until 2027,” Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told the Energy Intelligence Forum online conference.

Aramco, the world’s largest oil exporter, also aims to expand its oil trading business to eight million bpd over the next five years from its current 5.5 million bpd, Nasser said.

Global oil demand is “very healthy” he affirmed, noting that it will amount to 99 million bpd by the end of 2021 from 97 million bpd in Q3 2021, with some natural gas customers switching to liquids.

The CEO pointed to the company’s efforts to extract carbon emissions from vehicles, while striving to reduce the impact of internal combustion engines on the environment by providing low-carbon means of transportation.

He referred to the linear carbon economic model in which economies discard raw materials as waste after use, stressing that the circular carbon economic system uses resources again.

“A circular carbon economy is a framework for managing and reducing emissions. It is a closed loop system involving 4Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle, and remove.”

Nasser said the kingdom and Aramco have adopted the circular carbon economy framework as a way to reduce their carbon footprints.

The concept of an economy based on carbon recycling is described as a basic pillar that helps in rebalancing the carbon cycle in the world.



BP Nears Deals for Oil Fields, Curbs on Gas Flaring in Iraq

British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
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BP Nears Deals for Oil Fields, Curbs on Gas Flaring in Iraq

British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)

Iraq and British oil giant BP are set to finalize a deal by early February to develop four oil fields in Kirkuk and curb gas flaring, Iraqi authorities announced Wednesday.

The mega-project in northern Iraq will include plans to recover flared gas to boost the country's electricity production, they said.

Gas flaring refers to the polluting practice of burning off excess gas during oil drilling. It is cheaper than capturing the associated gas.

The Iraqi government and BP signed a new memorandum of understanding in London late Tuesday, as Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and other senior ministers visit Britain to seal various trade and investment deals.

"The objective is to enhance production and achieve optimal targeted rates of oil and gas output," Sudani's office said in a statement.

Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani told AFP after the new accord was signed that the project would increase the four oil fields' production to up to 500,000 barrels per day from about 350,000 bpd.

"The agreement commits both parties to sign a contract in the first week of February," he said.

Ghani noted the project will also target gas flaring.

Iraq has the third highest global rate of gas flaring, after Russia and Iran, having flared about 18 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, according to the World Bank.

The Iraqi government has made eliminating the practice one of its priorities, with plans to curb 80 percent of flared gas by 2026 and to eliminate releases by 2028.

"It's not just a question of investing and increasing oil production... but also gas exploitation. We can no longer tolerate gas flaring, whatever the quantity," Ghani added.

"We need this gas, which Iraq currently imports from neighboring Iran. The government is making serious efforts to put an end to these imports."

Iraq is ultra-dependent on Iranian gas, which covers almost a third of Iraq's energy needs.

However, Teheran regularly cuts off its supply, exacerbating the power shortages that punctuate the daily lives of 45 million Iraqis.

BP is one of the biggest foreign players in Iraq's oil sector, with a history of producing oil in the country dating back to the 1920s when it was still under British mandate.

According to the World Bank, Iraq has 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves -- among the largest in the world -- amounting to 96 years' worth of production at the current rate.