Al Amn Magazine # 161

MARCH 2023 34 ENVIRONMENT Theoldest andthe largest Manifa fieldensures globaldominance he Manifa field in Saudi Arabia, situated north of Jubail, is the world’s fifth largest and one of the country’s oldest oil reserves. It was first discovered in 1957. The 45 kms long and 18 kms wide field is in the marine area under shallow waters with a depth of between one and 15 meters. The Manifa field plays a prominent role at a time when the number of mega projects that are designed to achieve the maximum benefit from the oil and gas resources in that are increasing under the umbrella of the country’s Vision 2030. This stresses the importance of encouraging exploration for natural resources and making the most of them. It pumped around 900,000 barrels of heavy oil per day and was redeveloped later to begin operations again in 2014. After this, it was considered one of the largest projects of its kind in the oil industry, since it provides the necessary production for both refineries, the Saudi Aramco refinery in Jubail and the Yanbu Aramco refinery, in addition to supporting the Jazan refinery and the Nutiva Enterprise refinery. Production first began in the Manifa field in 1964 with a capacity of 125,000 barrels per day but due to the decrease in demand for crude oil, it was stopped in 1984. The decision to redevelop was taken in 2006 and it was also decided to increase its capacity significantly. In 2008, the first pillar of the project’s bridges was erected at the seabed and temporary facilities were established. Fourteen bridges were built to avoid obstructing the vital cycle of T