The planned expansion of the Khurais oilfield in Saudi Arabia has reportedly been delayed beyond the original 2017 schedule, said Gulf Digital News.
“The project is important because of the associated gas that comes with the expansion of the oilfield … but Aramco has stretched the timeframe of the field. The picture will be much clearer in November or December,” said a source who insisted on remaining anonymous.
Contractors who have been awarded jobs on the field have also been asked to wait for their contracts to be finalized, revealed another source.
The authorities, however, had not revealed the reason for this delay to these sources .
Saudi Aramco so far has not responded, according to Trade Arabia.
The expansion project is meant to increase output from 300,000 b/d to 1.5 million b/d, along with 143 million standard cubic feet per day of associated gas and 34,000 b/d of natural gas liquids.
There also plans to expand the Shaybah oilfield – commissioning will be ready by the end of April 2016 – but it also emerged that a major natural gas liquids project at Shaybah was likewise delayed thanks to construction costs overrun.
Declining oil prices had also prompted a slowdown in a number of existing projects, while others were cancelled and yet other projects called for discounts on contracts.