18 19

key
figures upstream
operations
oil equivalent
reserves
332.9 billion
barrels

crude oil
with blended
condensate
produced For 85 years, we have been entrusted
10.2 million
with the stewardship of the Kingdom’s
oil and gas reserves.
bpd

raw gas
processed
12.4 billion
scfd

natural gas
supplied
8.7billion
scfd
 20 21

un matched
Designed to maximize long- • Maintain our position as the
term value, our upstream world’s leading crude oil
strategy focuses on leveraging producer by production

Our upstream strategy:

our competitive advantages in volume, and provide
production and scale. By consistent, reliable, and

Leveraging advantages
tempering production from competitive crude oil supply
mature fields, accelerating to customers
This laser technology tool,
to maximize value younger fields and secondary
reservoirs, and developing fresh
reserves from new increments,
• Further diversify operations
to capture value from
developed in-house, is designed to
be multifunctional — able to drill,
strategic integration frac, and perforate wells.
we plan to create and sustain
value for generations to come. • Expand natural gas activities
To maintain our standing in the to supply the Kingdom’s
upstream sector, we seek to: natural gas market
Saudi Aramco annual review 2017 Upstream Operations

For 85 years, we have been entrusted enables us to replace reserves through The Kingdom ended 2017 with proved
with the stewardship of the Kingdom’s oil new discoveries, the delineation and reserves in the fields we operate of 332.9
and gas reserves. reassessment of existing fields, and billion barrels of oil equivalent.
revisions of reserve estimates in producing
In this time, we have grown to become New discoveries
reservoirs and fields.
the world's leading producer of crude oil
and condensate. Throughout 2017, we remained Crude oil and gas exploration activities
committed to discovering new during 2017 resulted in the discovery
Over the decades, we have matured our of two new oil fields and one new gas
conventional and unconventional
understanding of the Kingdom’s geology reservoir. The new oil fields discovered in
hydrocarbon resources across the
and built an integrated network of oil and 2017 were: Sakab, southeast of Haradh,
Kingdom, aided by the development
gas production and processing facilities. and Zumul, in the Rub’ al-Khali. The new
and deployment of data acquisition and
By combining technologies developed gas reservoir discovered in 2017 was Jauf,
processing technologies.
in-house with leading industry practices, in the Sahba field.
we enhance our reserves base and Our unconventional gas exploration
optimize production from Saudi program targeted three areas: Northern Oil production: Investing
Arabia’s reservoirs. Arabia, the South Ghawar area, and the to meet demand
Jafurah Basin east of Ghawar.
The International Energy Agency’s
Exploration: Adding to In the Red Sea, using an autonomous (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2017
our resource base system that deploys seismic nodes on New Policies Scenario estimates that
the seabed via reinforced armored rope, global energy needs will expand by
Exploration has been the cornerstone of
we reduced the costs of 3-D seismic 30% between today and 2040. With
Saudi Aramco since the Kingdom first
data acquisition in our survey of two petroleum energy resources expected
granted a concession to our predecessor,
blocks measuring 800 square kilometers to form a key component of the world’s
Standard Oil of California, in 1933.
(km) and 900 square km. The choice of energy mix for the foreseeable future,
Decades of onshore and offshore
locations for the 3-D seismic survey was we continue to invest in our capability
exploration in Saudi Arabia have resulted We are developing laser technologies
informed by a large-scale hydrographic to meet current and projected future conceived to perform perforation, waterless
in an extensive portfolio of oil and gas
survey — a first for these waters. We demand. fracturing intitiation, descaling, and other
fields that includes the world’s largest tasks to solve production challenges.
anticipate the results of the survey
onshore and offshore oil fields (Ghawar We have consistently produced five
will help optimize field operations and
and Safaniyah, respectively). This grades of Arabian crude oil. These grades,
facilities, including rig movements, laying
accumulated knowledge and expertise and the wide range of blends that can
of pipelines, and supply vessel routes.
 22 23

In support of our drive to sustain value from the Kingdom’s

resource base for generations to come, we are working to
increase the production capacity of our Khurais facility.

be produced using them, are compatible significantly boost long-term supply. In

with most refineries around the world. 2017, we pursued a host of initiatives to
This compatibility, combined with our maximize oil recovery, including advanced
flexible crude oil production capacity, well completion technologies, artificial
Saudi Aramco annual review 2017 Upstream Operations

enables us to quickly respond to lift optimization, and debottlenecking of

increases in market demand for crude production systems.
oil in general and to fluctuations in
We continued efforts to develop
demand for specific grades.
secondary reservoirs, such as 'Ain Dar and
In 2017, we produced an average of 10.2 Lower Fadhili, and to optimize surface
million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, facilities. For example, we upgraded
including blended condensate. offshore platforms, installed new tie-in
platforms, and replaced key trunk lines in
Our production strategy is guided by four
our Safaniyah field. We also stayed on
interlinked considerations:
course to increase the plant capacity of
• The crude oil grades available our Khurais facility by 300,000 bpd in
• The long-run value of different crude 2018.
oil slates We completed a major project to
• Our ability to sell the crude oil grades de-mothball one of the gas-oil separation
in strategic markets plants (GOSPs) at our offshore Zuluf field.
Production from GOSP-3 was suspended
• The near-term requirements based in 1995. During a six-month program, we
on a long-term assessment of inspected, repaired, and installed new
future performance equipment and utilities to bring GOSP-3
To execute our production strategy, safely back online to sustain the field
we focus on completing technical production capacity at 800,000 bpd of
assessments for producing fields and crude oil.
exploiting potential synergies through the
integration of subsurface computational Gas processing:

10.7
models with surface facility networks.
Powering growth

10.2

10.2
And because our principal oil fields are
linked with our extensive network of The expanding industrialization of

9.7

9.7
integrated facilities, we have the flexibility Saudi Arabia, and the increasing use of
to send crude oil to multiple plants for cleaner burning natural gas for power
processing, stabilization, and shipping. generation and seawater desalination,

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017
and as feedstock for the petrochemicals
Given the scale of our reserves, even
sector, provide opportunities for us to
small percentage increases in recovery Crude oil production
create significant additional value beyond
rates and production efficiency can
crude oil. (million bpd)
24 25

We are the sole supplier of natural gas

in the Kingdom, the seventh largest
natural gas market in the world.

This year, we made progress on several • Expansion of the gas processing capacity
new gas processing plants. Designed of our Hawiyah Gas Plant by 1.1 billion
to boost supplies of natural gas, the scfd. The new gas processing facilities,
plants are expected to enable increased expected to be on-stream in 2021, are

Saudi Aramco annual review 2017 Upstream Operations

exports of higher value liquids, provide anticipated to raise total production
feedstock to the petrochemical industry, capacity of the plant to approximately 3.6
and reduce domestic reliance on liquid billion scfd, making it one of the largest
fuels for power generation. Additionally, gas processing facilities in the world.
the increased use of gas is expected to
• Commencement of engineering,
help lower greenhouse gas emissions and
procurement, and construction of
improve air quality.
a natural gas liquids (NGL) deep
In 2017, we processed an average of 12.4 recovery train at our ‘Uthmaniyah
billion standard cubic feet per day (scfd) Gas Plant to recover ethane and other
of raw gas and supplied 8.7 billion scfd NGLs from the natural gas produced from
of natural gas with an energy content of the ‘Uthmaniyah plant and from the
1,080 Btu per standard cubic feet (scf). Hawiyah Gas Plant expansion.
In 2017, we achieved the following in our
Improving production,
expanding capacity three unconventional gas exploration
focus areas:
In 2017, we readied our Midyan
nonassociated gas field in northwestern • In northern Arabia, we achieved raw gas
Saudi Arabia. The facilities in the field production while reducing drilling costs
are designed to produce 75 million through optimized well design and drilling
scfd of natural gas and 4,500 bpd of practices, and made available 55 million
condensate. This gas will be scfd of natural gas to the Wa’ad al-Shamal
used to displace liquid fuels for Industrial Complex.
power generation. • In South Ghawar, we completed wells
We completed wells toward the that showed high gas and condensate
development of the Hasbah-Khursaniyah flows while also reducing drilling costs
increment designed to feed the Fadhili through well design optimization and
12.4

the application of fit-for-purpose

12.0

Gas Plant, which is designed to process

technologies.
11.4

2.5 billion scfd of raw gas. The gas from

11.3
11.0

the Khursaniyah field is planned to feed • In the Jafurah Basin, we completed a

the specially designed cogeneration plant number of wells and reduced drilling
that can handle low Btu gas. costs through improved well design
2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

We made significant commitments and execution.

to improve production from existing
Raw gas processed gas fields and expand gas processing
(billion scfd) capacity, including:
A massive dehydration unit rolls into our Fadhili Gas Plant. The
unit improves the efficiency of the gas treatment process and
helps ensure the purity of gas for distribution to customers.
26 27

Upstream R&D highlights: Our upstream R&D addresses key oil

Enhancing discovery, and gas challenges: Improving seismic
boosting recovery
processing and analysis, increasing
the effectiveness and efficiency of “Advanced technology will continue to play a pivotal
At Saudi Aramco, we are dedicated to gas exploration, optimizing enhanced
achieving technology breakthroughs crude oil recovery methods, raising role in helping us improve oil well productivity,
that enable us to meet the needs of our crude oil recovery rates, enhancing oil
customers more efficiently and cost-
effectively while helping to minimize the
well productivity, and lowering
production costs.
increase recovery, and deliver better cost efficiency.”
environmental impact of our activities.
Our upstream research activities are Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani, Senior Vice President, Upstream
We are harnessing the power of the primarily performed in-house, with
Fourth Industrial Revolution through support from our Global Research
our use of Big Data and supercomputing, Network research centers in Houston,
and through ongoing investigations into Boston, and Beijing, and from our
nanotechnology applications. technology offices in Aberdeen,

Scotland and Delft, the Netherlands. demonstration project in ‘Uthmaniyah,

with the goals of sequestering carbon
Highlights from our upstream R&D
dioxide (CO2), developing related
programs in 2017 include the following:
technologies, and enhancing oil

Saudi Aramco annual review 2017 Upstream Operations

Enhancing discovery recovery. To assess the effectiveness
of the field pilot, the migration of the
We continued to increase the power and subsurface plume from the injected
speed of GigaPOWERS, our parallel oil CO2 is being tracked through 4-D
and water enhanced reservoir simulator, geophysical monitoring, interwell tracer
and TeraPOWERS, our next-generation tests, geochemical sampling, and time-
reservoir and basin simulator, to improve lapse logging. The crude oil production
our computational modeling. These response due to CO2 injection continued
enhancements improve the resolution to show positive results.
of the models, giving our petroleum
engineers a better understanding of Our state-of-the-art Advanced
reservoir mechanics to enable maximum Geosteering Center in Dhahran enables
recovery and sustainable production real-time monitoring of drilling rigs
for the long term. hundreds of kilometers away to achieve
precise, optimal well placement. Live
We developed GeoDRIVE, our next- drilling and downhole data is transmitted
generation, integrated seismic imaging by satellite from rigs to the Advanced
platform that enables ultra-high Geosteering Center where teams of
resolution subsurface mapping and experts analyze the data to make real-
characterization, and tested the platform time decisions. Geosteering allows us
in collaboration with the King Abdullah to position wells for maximum reservoir
University of Science and Technology contact, resulting in enhanced well
(KAUST). Our geophysical expertise, productivity and reduced development
integrated with the power of Shaheen costs. In 2017, our Geosteering program
II, a KAUST supercomputer, successfully

8.7
achieved 93% reservoir contact efficiency.
produced a 3-D image of subsurface

8.3
geologic layers at a record resolution of Smart Flood uses injected seawater

8.0
7.8
7.5 meters. This capability will enhance with ionic compositions that have

7.5
our understanding of challenging been optimized to enhance the
subsurface environments and help "sweep" of oil in carbonate reservoirs
optimize drilling for exploration and improve recovery rates. In 2017,

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017
and production. we completed tie-in activities and
commissioned multiphase flow meters
Boosting recovery at our ‘Uthmaniyah Smart Flood Natural gas supplied
demonstration project. (billion scfd)
We continued monitoring the
performance of our multi-well

Researchers at our Houston R&D Center explore the use of

seawater as a fracturing fluid to minimize the use of freshwater, a
scarce commodity in the Kingdom.
 28 29

un matched
Maintaining our reputation as a • Khurais field: Planned 2021, increasing to 75,000
reliable producer of crude oil, increase of crude oil bpd in 2026
and as a leading producer of production capacity by
• Fadhili Gas Plant: Designed to
At a glance:
natural gas, requires ongoing 300,000 bpd in 2018
investment in our production process up to 2.5 billion scfd
• Fazran field: Planned of gas, with start up planned
Oil and gas
capacity. In 2017, we continued
to plan and execute a slate of increase of crude oil in 2019
production capacity by
mega-projects mega-projects:
75,000 bpd in 2020 • Hawiyah Gas Plant: Planned
processing capacity
• Dammam field: Expected expansion of 1.1 billion scfd
start up of 25,000 bpd in

We are exploring the use of seawater (ESP). This technique enables the rapid research projects. Nanotechnology
for fracturing operations to minimize deployment of ESPs using the pump’s shows the potential to enable the
the use of freshwater resources. We power cable, rather than a workover rig. monitoring and analysis of reservoir
completed a field trial in Haradh and three In 2017, we completed two installations, performance — and possibly intervention
Saudi Aramco annual review 2017 Upstream Operations

more field trials are planned for 2018. with a third planned for 2018. We also — directly from within the reservoir. In
progressed preparations for a field trial of 2017, we identified scalable formulations Using cameras and sensors to
Targeting improved well site safety, document geological features, our
a slimmer version of the technology. of surface nanoparticles, which we plan
as well as significantly reduced field GeoDrone solution improves safety
to use in a single well chemical tracer field and the accuracy of field data while
operation costs and downtime, we To improve recovery rates and long-
test in 2018. also reducing costs, since geologists
continued our field trials of a cable term reservoir management, we are can conduct virtual field trips from
deployed electric submersible pump conducting a suite of nanotechnology their desktops.