Trade sources stated that the state-owned energy giant Saudi Aramco has sold various cargoes of ultra-light crude oil out of its $100 billion Jafurah gas plant to U.S. majors and an Indian refiner, and is preparing to sell its first cargo towards the end of this month.
The Jafurah project, which is estimated to have a total of 229 trillion standard cubic feet of raw gas and 75 billion barrels of condensate, forms the core of the Aramco projects to increase its gas production to be a key natural gas player in the world, and to increase its supply of light crude grades.
The sources reported that the U.S. giant Chevron has purchased two Jafurah condensate cargoes to be loaded later this month and in March, with Exxon Mobil Corp and Indian Oil Corp acquiring cargoes to be loaded in the coming month.
The cargoes were sold at premiums of $2 to $3 a barrel to Dubai quotes on a free-on-board basis. Chevron’s first cargo is intended for its South Korean joint-venture refiner GS Caltex, while the second could head to Thailand for Star Petroleum Refining.
However, Aramco, Exxon, IOC, and SPRC failed to respond to comment requests immediately. Jafurah could become the largest non-U.S. shale gas project and is projected to achieve sustainable production of 2 billion cubic feet per day by 2030.
A source informed Reuters that Aramco had the capacity to export four or six 500,000 barrels of Jafurah condensate at the eastern port of Yanbu in the country each month.
Condensate is a liquid non-gas which can be processed at splitters to form petrochemical feedstock naphtha and other refined products, or can be mixed with crude to be distilled at refineries.
According to a preliminary crude assay reviewed by Reuters, Jafurah condensate has an API gravity of 49.7 degrees and contains about 0.17 percent sulphur.
The assay indicated that about 40 percent of its output is petrochemical feedstock naphtha, predominantly of the heavier grade, with the remainder of the output primarily being gasoil and kerosene.
