Background: State oil firm Saudi Aramco is considering building new facilities to add production of Arabian Heavy crude from the Zuluf offshore oilfield. Zuluf was one of the largest offshore oilfields in the world and held extensive proven Arabian Medium and Arabian Heavy reserves. The gas and condensate will be sent to the new Tanajib gas plant, which is part of the new Marjan programme.Like the Marjan increment, it will take until 2021 for the project to be completed, one of the sources said. Zuluf is the northernmost offshore oilfield and Saudi Arabia's fifth super-giant. The average water depth at Zuluf is 118 feet. The field was discovered in 1965 and started production in 1973

Scope of Work: The central processing plant is expected to have two units, known as trains, with a total capacity of 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to process Arabian Heavy crude supplied by electrical submersible pumps (ESP)."ESPs are required in this Zuluf increment because the Arabian Heavy reserves have a lower reservoir pressure than the Arabian Medium reserves," said Sadad al-Husseini, a former executive vice president at Saudi Aramco. He said the artificial lift and pressure maintenance would achieve optimum production rates and economics, while also ensuring effective reservoir management.

Capacity: Industry sources estimate Zuluf's production capacity is between 550,000-600,000 barrels per day.