SAUDI OIL RESERVES RISE DESPITE HIGHER OUTPUT
Proven oil and gas deposits in Saudi
Arabia increased in 1986 despite higher oil output, according
to the kingdom's main producing company, Aramco.
    Recoverable oil reserves in Aramco fields rose to 167
billion barrels by the end the year from 166.5 billion in 1985,
while gas reserves jumped by 7.7 pct to 135.8 trillion cu ft
from 126.1 trillion, the company's annual report said.
    Aramco, responsible for all Saudi production except about
200,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the Neutral Zone between Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait, increased production to 4.69 mln barrels per
day in 1986 from 3.04 mln barrels a year earlier.

    Most of 1986 was a virtual free-for-all in production, as
OPEC members abandoned restraint in an effort to recapture
their share of the market. In the process, prices collapsed
from about 28 dlrs a barrel to below nine dlrs, until the
organisation decided to cut production again from last
September onwards.
    Saudi output in 1985 had been the lowest since the 1960s.
    Production of natural gas liquids in 1986 declined slightly
to 304,178 bpd from 316,310, said the report, carried on the
official Saudi Press Agency.
    The increase in reserves came despite a sharp cut in the
number of wells Aramco drilled to 33 in 1986 from 103 in 1985.

    Aramco's only refinery, at Ras Tannurah, processed 142.44
mln barrels (390,246 bpd) of crude last year. The plant was
upgraded to a capacity of 530,000 bpd during the year, enabling
it to supply 50 pct of local demand for oil products, the
report said.
    The country's other five, smaller refineries -- owned by
another state-owned oil organisation, Petromin -- produced
around 750,000 bpd last year.

    Sulphur production rose to 1.23 mln tonnes in 1986 from
998,707 tonnes in 1985. During the year the company began
operating a sulphur granule plant with capacity of 4,000 tonnes
per day, the report said.
    Aramco said it awarded 1,303 contracts last year worth 1.4
billion riyals -- about 370 mln dlrs.

 REUTER
