An industry source close to the US$9 billion Saudi Arabian Manifa offshore oilfield project has told the news gathering agency Reuters that the project has been delayed for at least the next six months by state-owned energy company Saudi Aramco.
“Aramco will proceed with the project and agreed on a six month delay,” the source told Reuters.
The Moneefa project is in line to become Saudi Arabia’s largest offshore field, capable of producing 900,000 barrels of crude. However, the heavy sour crude the field holds makes it expensive to process and not economically viable in the current financial climate.Â
Another source close to the project told Reuters that Saudi Aramco were also in negotiations with contractors to make amendments to the contracts.
“There have been some amendments on the contracts, like the schedule time and revised price items, but Aramco is moving forward,” Reuters quoted the source as saying.
Contractors also told the news gathering agency that construction work on the project would now start in early 2010 as opposed to 2009. This would result in the field not producing oil until 2012.
The delay to Manifa comes a week after Aramco delayed the US$8 billion Ras Tanura refinery project along with several other downstream facilities. Industry experts have speculated that the delays are a strategic move by the energy giant to try and take advantage of the current low prices for raw materials.Â
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