Manifa

Manifa Oil Field Profile

The Manifa oil field was discovered in 1957, located off the northern Arabian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia.
The field's wildcat well, Manifa No. 1, discovered oil in 1958, and subsequent wells were drilled to delineate the area and depth of the field by 1960.
Initial production began in 1964 at a rate of 40,000 barrels of Arabian heavy crude oil per day (bopd), making it Saudi Aramco’s second heavy oil field to commence production. Production was later increased to 113,000 bopd in 1966 and peaked at 140,000 bopd before being suspended in 1984 due to low global demand for heavy crude.

In 2006, Saudi Aramco initiated planning for the redevelopment of the Manifa field in response to rising global demand for oil. The front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies were completed by the end of 2007.
The redevelopment project involved a massive capital investment of approximately $10 billion (£7.76 billion).

The Manifa oil field is a shallow water field, located in 15-meter-deep waters, approximately 200km northwest of Dhahran. It spans 45km in length and 18km in width, comprising six identified heavy crude reservoirs stacked one over another.
To avoid damaging the environmentally sensitive area, which includes coral reefs and dense sea-grass beds, Saudi Aramco opted for the construction of 27 man-made drilling islands. These islands are linked by a 41-km causeway that includes 13 bridges and several culverts to allow natural ocean currents to circulate.
The project includes:
- 350 wells drilled up to 32,000 feet deep to access the oil resources.
- 15 onshore drill sites and 13 offshore platforms for oil production and water injection.
- A central processing facility (CPF) with three gas-oil separation plants (GOSPs), each capable of treating 300,000 barrels per day.
- A 420MW co-generation plant built in 2011 to supply electricity and heat for the entire facility.
- Over 9,000 km of pipelines and cable networks.
- A water supply system to inject approximately 1.35 million barrels of aquifer water into the oil reservoir daily to maintain pressure for optimum crude oil production.

The development plan was designed to minimize environmental impact. The use of man-made islands and a causeway allowed for drilling without disturbing the marine habitat, which includes seagrass, coral reefs, and various marine life such as pearl oysters, sea snakes, shrimps, crabs, dolphins, and sea turtles, including the endangered Hawksbill turtle.

Construction began in the first quarter of 2010, after several delays from the initial planned start in 2008. The first phase of the project started production in April 2013, achieving an initial rate of 500,000 bopd by July 2013. The field reached its target capacity of 900,000 bopd by 2017.
Key milestones include:
- Completion of the causeway and islands in 2010.
- Completion of the 13 offshore platforms by 2011.
- Achievement of the first production milestone in April 2013 and the final target production rate by 2017.

Foster Wheeler was awarded the FEED and project management services contract in November 2006.
Jan De Nul Group was the main contractor for the construction of the artificial islands and the causeway.
Saipem was contracted for the fabrication, transportation, and installation of offshore structures and pipelines, including a new 42-inch offshore pipeline as part of the water injection system upgrade.
JGC Holdings was involved in the construction of the Manifa GOSPs.

The crude oil produced at Manifa is sent to various refineries, including the Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical (SATORP) refinery in Jubail, the Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (YASREF) refinery in Yanbu Industrial City, and Saudi Aramco’s wholly-owned Jazan refinery.
The project also involves the production of 90 million standard cubic feet per day of sour gas and 65,000 bopd of gas condensate.

The project featured significant innovations, including the use of a nuclear magnetic resonance tool to create real-time 3D profiles of the reservoir layers, allowing for accurate tapping into reserves at extreme distances.
The project was completed three months ahead of schedule and over $1 billion under budget. It also achieved an exemplary safety record with over 80 million hours worked without injury.

The Manifa project received the “Innovative Oil Project of the Year” award for its use of best-in-class technologies in infrastructure, drilling, and production activities, as well as its outstanding safety record.