Gulf Cooperation Council countries to develop oil refineries

Oil sources in the Gulf stated that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will spend about $20 billion during the coming ten years to develop existing oil refineries and to set up new ones.

The sources expected that the GCC countries will raise their oil production to 4 million barrels a day by the year 2007 compared to 2.1 million barrel a day in 1996, an increase of about 90%.

The director of planning at the secretariat general of the GCC, Anwar Abdalla, mentioned that the GCC countries give great importance to developing their refining industry and bridging the gap between the great potentials of oil reserves in the region and the low refining capacity.

Oil reserves in the GCC countries are estimated at 466 billion barrels, more than half of which is found in Saudi Arabia. Sources in Saudi Aramco said that Saudi Arabia is expected to raise its refining capacity to about 1.7 million barrels per day compared to the curreny capacity of 1.3 million barrels per day.