By the end of this year, Saudi Aramco will have 120 drilling rigs in operation. "This number will reach 130 rigs early next year, more than doubling in number from 55 in 2004," said Saudi Aramco petroleum engineer Hiba A. Dialdin, who spoke recently in Houston at the Women's Global Leadership in Energy and Technology Conference. Addressing the topic, "Saudi Aramco Oil Supply: What's in Store," she outlined Saudi Aramco's commitment to meeting the world's energy needs through an integrated, technology-driven approach to oil exploration and production. Dialdin, set the context for her remarks by noting that the anticipated continued rise in oil demand worldwide will result in an increasingly important role for OPEC production, with the major output coming from Saudi Arabia, according to a report carried yesterday by Saudi Aramco's website. "This has put the onus on Saudi Aramco to intensify its efforts to meet global demand," Dialdin said. But with over seven decades of experience behind it, Saudi Aramco is well-equipped to take on the challenge. Dialdin said that there are four pillars supporting Saudi Aramco's upstream strategy: the Company's large resource base, qualified human resources, appropriate application of technology, and careful reservoir management tenets. "What sets Saudi Aramco apart is our ability to optimally coordinate all four of these elements," she said. Dialdin pointed out that in addition to the massive 260 billion barrels of proven reserves, Saudi Aramco is committed to replace proven reserves by at least the amount that has been produced in any given year. In order to meet the world's growing energy needs, Dialdin noted that Saudi Aramco has embarked on a series of enormous "mega projects" to increase its maximum sustainable production capacity to 12 million barrels per day by 2009. These mega projects are supported by an ambitious drilling program.
