More on Saudi explosions

My guess is that the Saudis are denying this for all they are worth.

Here Comes The Saudi Denial

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/here-comes-saudi-denial

The latest in this story:

• Saudi oil officials says reports about attack on pipeline are untrue- Dow Jones

So someone is lying. And now we can go back to assuming that Saudi Arabia has limitless excess supplies of crude.

Photo Of Pipeline Fire And Map Of Awamiya Region

Zero Hedge,

2 March, 2012

And another update this time a video showing Awamiya, Eastern Saudi Arabia, where the oil fields can be seen from minute three onward.

Another update from Arab Digest:

A new photo of the pipeline under fire, from our Qatif correspondent:

The Eastern region is where most of the oil fields are based. The events, if they continue, might force Saudi Arabia to lower its production expectations this year, thus affecting world supplies, and possible the world economy.

A quick review of the proximal refinery courtesy of Saudi Aramco

Ras Tanura Refinery

The most complex Saudi Aramco refinery is on the Arabian Gulf at Ras Tanura with a crude distillation capacity of 550,000 barrels per day (BPD). Ras Tanura Refinery also has a 305,000 BPD NGL processing facility, a 960,000 BPD crude stabilization facility, 145/158 MW (summer/winter) of combined steam and gas turbine electrical power generation plants, a combined 150 lb and 600 lb steam capacity of 6,217 Mlb/hr, and 75 crude oil and products storage tanks with a combined capacity of 5.8 million barrels.

Ras Tanura Refinery's major refining facilities include a 325,000 BPD Crude Distillation Unit, a 225,000 BPD Gas Condensate Distillation Unit, 50,000 BPD hydrocracker and a total of 107,000 BPD capacity of catalytic reforming. Ras Tanura Refinery is the only Saudi Aramco refinery that contains a Visbreaker (60,000 BPD). This refinery also produces 17,000 BPD of asphalt, more than any other refinery in the Kingdom. Crude is normally transferred to Ras Tanura through a pipeline and can also be supplied by ship. Most of Ras Tanura’s production is for domestic use and transferred to the Dhahran bulk plant, while some products are exported.