Yanbu' Crude Oil Terminal

The Yanbu' Crude Oil Terminal was built in 1982 by Petromin and integrated into Saudi Aramco in 1984. The Saudi Aramco projects played an early and crucial role in the development of Yanbu'. In fact, the selection of Yanbu' as a center for industrial development was closely linked to the national desire to create a strategic alternative to the Kingdom's Arabian Gulf ports for crude oil shipment.

In 1982, two major pipelines were completed, linking the oil production facilities in the Eastern Province with Yanbu'.

One pipeline transports natural gas liquids (NGL) from gas processing facilities at Shedgum, 1,170 kilometers away. The other pipeline, 1,200 kilometers long, delivers crude oil from Abqaiq. The two pipelines, known as the East-West Pipelines, share a right-of-way and are the most advanced computer-monitored hydrocarbon pipelines ever built.

The crude oil pipeline, which is 122 centimeters in diameter, was initially able to deliver 1.85 million barrels per day (MMBPD) of raw petroleum to Yanbu' for refining or export. Saudi Aramco subsequently expanded this capacity to 3.2 MMBPD by laying a parallel string of 142-centimeter (56-inch) pipe connected to the existing pump stations. A further pumping system expansion in late 1992 increased capacity to 4.5 MMBPD.

The crude oil terminal in Yanbu' has 11 floating roof storage tanks — each able to hold 1 million barrels — plus a new 1.5 MMB tank, the largest-diameter tank in Saudi Arabia which was added in the 1992 capacity upgrade. The total storage capacity of the Crude Oil Tank Farm is 12.5 MMB.

There are two other cone roof tanks, each with storage capacity for 250,000 barrels of bunker fuel.

Four loading lines, each 142 centimeters in diameter connect the storage tanks to four tanker-loading berths. Simultaneous loading of tankers at the berths is the normal operating procedure, using a system capable of delivering 130,000 barrels of crude oil per hour to each berth.

In operation since 1981, this facility serves as a tanker-loading terminal for dual pipelines conveying crude oil from the Eastern Province to Yanbu'.

Dredged to a maximum depth of 32 meters, the terminal consists of a jetty trestle with four loading berths connected to shore by a freestanding trestle and a causeway. Four berths can be used at the same time, providing a maximum simultaneous loading rate of 520,000 barrels per hour. Two of the berths can accommodate vessels from 80,000 up to 500,000 DWT.

Bunker fuel (ship fuel) is also received from the crude tank in a 30-inch loading line. Bunker fuel can also be received via the same line from ships, if needed.

Both the crude oil and the NGL terminals are equipped with the most advanced computer processing systems in Saudi Arabia. Operators monitor and control storage and vessel loading via computer links to the berths and storage tanks.

Ships taking on cargo at Yanbu' for Europe or North America can save about 7,400 kilometers (4,000 nautical miles) per round trip, compared with sailing around the Arabian Peninsula to the Kingdom's Eastern Province terminals.

Yanbu' Refinery terminal

The Yanbu' Refinery Terminal consists of four berths. Two inner berths located in 11.5 meters of water are suitable for tankers up to 20,000 DWT. The two outer berths are located in 16 meters of water. One berth is suitable for tankers 20,000 to 60,000 DWT and the other was upgraded to handle 80,000 DWT tankers.

Fuel oil and marine diesel for cargo or bunker, motor diesel oil, regular and premium gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene and naphtha are available for loading at these berths. RLPG is available at one of the inner berths only. Three of the outer berths are suitable for offloading.

Yanbu' RLPG

The NGL pipeline and fractionation plant resulted from the construction of the Master Gas System in the oil-producing areas of the Eastern Province. In 1975, the government instructed Aramco (Saudi Aramco's predecessor) to create a system to utilize the gas that was being produced in association with crude oil. The vast majority was being flared. The project, one of the largest and most complex ever undertaken, is responsible for providing Yanbu' with its most important and attractive feedstock.

The first export shipment of LPG from the NGL export terminal occurred in 1982. At the same time, ethane was made available to local customers for use as a fuel. Ethane is also currently used by local manufacturers as a feedstock to produce ethylene and ethylene glycol.

From the terminal's two berths, liquefied propane and butane, which comprise LPG, can be loaded simultaneously at a peak rate of 30,000 barrels an hour. These berths can also handle natural gasoline tankers up to 140,000 DWT at the same 30,000-barrel-per-hour rate.

A 1.85 kilometer causeway and a 1.15 kilometer pile-supported trestle connect the shore plant to a two-berth, L-shaped offshore loading facility. The trestle carries a pipeway for the product, bunker and utility lines, and a 1.5 meter-wide pedestrian walkway.

Stocks of propane, butane and natural gasoline are stored at the six MMB tank farm at the NGL fractionation plant. Out of ten tanks with a combined storage capacity of 600,000 barrels, seven insulated dome-roof tanks store propane and butane, while three floating-roof tanks store naphtha.

The two leading industries in Yanbu' are the Saudi Aramco crude oil terminal and NGL fractionation plant. They occupy 180 and 725 hectares, respectively, in the industrial park and employ some 900 people, of whom approximately 85% are Saudis.