Saudi Arabia ready for giant tanker era
The completion of Aramco's Sea Island 3 brings the company's terminal facilities at Ras Tanura up to the handling of the new class of tanker of 200,000 dwt and above. This is the third of 3 virtually identical offshore loading terminals which Aramco has been putting in 2 miles off Ras Tanura over the past few years. Like its predecesor, Sea Island 3 has 2 berths. It is basically for vessels of up to 250,000 dwt, but one of the new berths can handle up to 400,000 dwt. Water around the islands is 90 ft deep. Channel depth has now been dredged to 69 ft clear at spring low water, so there is a depth of up to a further 7 ft. The largest tanker to berth there to date, a 200,000-tonner, drew 63 to 64 ft of water. Crude flows in through one 36-in. and three 30-in. submarine pipelines from the shore. These are being expanded now by addition of a 40-in. subsea line. An 8-in. line also supplies bunkers for ships on the sea islands. Hydraulically operated underwater valves control flow of the various types of crude: Safaniya, Arabian light, and Arabian medium. Drilling activity reached new heights recently: 77 wells drilled last year: 39 for oil, 24 for water injection, and 2 for observation; with a further 12 wells being either abandoned or suspended.
- OSTI ID:
- 7156830
- Journal Information:
- World Pet.; (United States), Journal Name: World Pet.; (United States) Vol. 40:8; ISSN WOPTA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
022000* -- Petroleum-- Transport
Handling
& Storage
ABANDONED WELLS
ASIA
CARGO
CONTROL EQUIPMENT
DEEP WATER OIL TERMINALS
DEPTH
DIMENSIONS
DRILLING
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUIPMENT
EXPLORATORY WELLS
FLOW REGULATORS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDRAULIC EQUIPMENT
INJECTION WELLS
LEVELS
MARITIME TRANSPORT
OFFSHORE OPERATIONS
PETROLEUM
PIPELINES
SAUDI ARABIA
SHIPS
TANKER SHIPS
TERMINAL FACILITIES
TRANSPORT
UNDERWATER
VALVES
WELL DRILLING
WELLS