Aramco confident full output from Khurais to resume by end of September

KHURAIS: Saudi Aramco is confident full production will resume by the end of September from Khurais, one of two oil sites attacked about a week ago, a company executive said on Friday.

Aramco was shipping equipment from the United States and Europe to rebuild the damaged facilities, Fahad Abdulkarim, Aramco’s general manager for the southern area oil operation, told reporters on a tour organized by the state company.

Reuters reporters were shown repair work under way, with cranes erected around two burnt-out stabilization columns, which form part of oil-gas separation units, and melted pipes.

“We are working 24/7,” Abdulkarim said.

Yemen’s Houthi group on September 14 attacked two Saudi Aramco plants in Abqaiq and Khurais provinces.

Abqaiq is located 60 km (37 miles) southwest of Aramco’s Dhahran headquarters. It contains the world’s largest oil processing plant, handling crude from the giant Ghawar field and for export to terminals Ras Tanura – the world’s biggest offshore oil loading facility – and Juaymah. It also pumps westwards across the kingdom to Red Sea export terminals. Khurais, 190 km further southwest, contains the country’s second-largest oilfield.

The Houthis’ military spokesman, without providing evidence, had said that the attacks had achieved direct hits on refineries at both sites, which are over 1,000 km from the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and pledged a widening of attacks on Saudi Arabia.