14 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

The hurricanes that hit the United States were severe

events that cost billions of dollars and hundreds of lives.

They also caused gas prices to shoot up in the States. Like

a pebble in a pond, the ripple effect was felt around the

world. However, thanks to a combination of extraordinary,

highly experienced people and leading edge technology,

Saudi Aramco was able, literally, to weather the storms and

continue to supply customers with the right mix of product

— and not cut back production.

This is what OSPAS (the Oil Supply Planning and

Scheduling Department) does every day. It is the operations

heart of Saudi Aramco. “OSPAS is the only organization

in Saudi Aramco that has a global view,” said Adel H.

Al-Dossary, manager, OSPAS. “Our mission is to manage

and optimize hydrocarbon sys-

tem capacities and inventories

to deliver quality products to

the customer at the right time

and place with maximum net

revenue to Saudi Aramco.”

For most people in the

world, the acronym OSPAS is

devoid of meaning; few people

even inside the company understand just how vital the

organization is to the success of Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia

and our many customers around the world.

“The key to understanding OSPAS, is that the organiza-

tion touches almost every aspect of Saudi Aramco’s opera-

Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf (of Mexico) Coast hard, followed by Hurricane Rita which knocks out even

more rigs and refineries. Saudi Aramco has scheduled shipments of crude to those refineries. Soon, the

shipments are backing up. What to do? Cut production? Increase storage?

Build up inventory? Redirect tankers?

Key OSPAS officials,from right: Adel H. Al-Dossary, OSPAS manager; Mitrik M. Al-Shaalan, shift planningcoordinator; Essam Al-Eissa, administrator,Real-Time SystemsDivision; and MaanShami, group leader,Planning and Programs.

Coordination Center (OCC)

Big Board.

But despite its multifaceted

mandate, the one virtue

OSPAS obsesses about is team-

work. Communications is the

byword; no one is ever left in the dark about any issue.

“Open communications across all divisions is an absolute

requirement,” said Al-Dossary. “From our morning 7:05

meeting to the dozens of conference calls and quick meetings

throughout the day, we are in easy communications with all

Saudi Aramco operations people around the Kingdom and

around the world.”

In addition, OSPAS recruits its members from all over the

company — including Sales and Marketing, Engineering,

Exploration, Refining among many others — in order to

provide a complete view of Saudi Aramco’s operations. In

short, OSPAS’s people represent a cross-section of the com-

pany, and this bolsters the excellent coordination among

Saudi Aramco’s component parts.

That is important because OSPAS majors on two inter-

related jobs — long-term planning and contingency planning.

“We are constantly planning for the future,” said Ziyad

A. Azzouz, general supervisor of the Oil Division. “We try to

anticipate everything that may affect the entire span of Saudi

Aramco operations up to a decade and more in the future.”

Long-term planning puts concepts on paper. But the real

world has a way of producing surprises at regular events.

The biggest video wallin the hydrocarbonindustry serves as a win-dow into Saudi Aramcooperations in oil, gas,refining, terminal opera-tions and electric power.

Winter 2006 15

tions,” said Al-Dossary. “Its participation in virtually every

project creates a solid foundation for the company’s contin-

ued success. This is a case where the right hand definitely

knows what the left hand is doing.”

OSPAS is composed of six divisions: Oil, Gas and

Natural Gas Liquids, Terminal, Refined Products, and

Supply Planning and Engineering.

The department plans, schedules, coordinates and

monitors movements (quantity and quality) of millions of

barrels of crude oil daily from all Saudi Aramco wellheads

to company terminals.

In addition, the organization also tracks refined-product

movements from five domestic and two joint venture refiner-

ies, 19 bulk plants, 18 air refueling sites, four Saudi Strategic

Storage Program complexes, and 1,600 kilometers of

refined-products pipeline. It also tracks gas and natural gas

liquids (NGL) from five gas plants, three fractionation cen-

ters and more than 5,000 km of pipeline.

Saudi Aramco also operates 44 export berths at five

marine ports, loading millions of barrels of oil, products

and natural gas each day onto enormous ocean-going

tankers that can exceed 500,000 deadweight tons.

OSPAS’s comprehensive system allows Saudi Aramco to

know exactly where, in effect, every drop of its hydrocarbons

is located at any instant in time.

Though not technically a part of OSPAS, electrical

power generation and distribution needs of Saudi

Aramco are also carefully managed on the Operations

OSPAS keeps Saudi Aramco

running smoothly, even in a crisis

16 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

amount of information the

screens display is gathered,

verified and used.

This is the story about the

people who are responsible for

providing the OCC and OSPAS with information, and the

people who use that information to aggressively run, protect

and optimize Saudi Aramco’s critical operations.

IT – A critical component“We can’t make mistakes,” said Esam M. Al-Eissa, adminis-

trator of the Real-Time Systems Division (RTSD) and the

leader of the group responsible for obtaining the data used

by the OCC. “You’ve heard of learning by your mistakes,

well that golden rule doesn’t apply here. We make a mistake,

and the company could lose millions of dollars and people

could be injured.”

The Information Technology (IT) component of OSPAS

is vital. Now a part of Saudi Aramco’s IT system and orga-

nizationally separate from OSPAS, the RTSD continues to

be in charge of OSPAS’s data.

According to Al-Eissa, “We believed that moving from

OSPAS to IT would provide us with a greater opportunity

to integrate OSPAS systems with other company systems.

“The long-term planning is constantly adapted,” said

Azzouz. “We are proud of the fact that OSPAS has been able

to rapidly and effectively make the critical decisions to blunt

any harmful impact of disasters like Hurricane Katrina.”

“It’s like taking pieces of a giant puzzle that’s constantly

changing and solving that puzzle over and over again,”

said Al-Dossary. “Our success is dependent upon OSPAS

people being able to put the pieces together time after time

after time.”

The new focusRecently, the focus of OSPAS has been the new OCC video

wall, inaugurated Sept. 12, 2005. The first OCC was built

in 1978, and its computer systems were replaced and

upgraded twice since 1982 (a third upgrade is scheduled

for 2008). The center was completely renovated in 1995.

Loaded with new display technology, today’s massive

(biggest in the hydrocarbon industry) series of screens on the

OCC wall simply overwhelms visitors and provides a real-

time display of Saudi Aramco’s key operations — oil, gas

and natural gas liquids (NGL), terminal planning operations

and refined products for OSPAS, plus electric power distri-

bution. As magnificent as the video wall is, it is merely a

tool. The real story of OCC and OSPAS is how the massive

The video wall, shownabove, can display real-time images fromcameras, satellites or the Internet.

Winter 2006 17

OSPAS relies on vast amounts of information and needs to

be fed from as wide a range of sources as possible. Our

move to IT makes this easier.”

Information gathering is a vital part of OSPAS’s success.

“Data is gathered from all operation sites,” said Maan

Al-Shami, Planning and Programming group leader —

“plants, refineries, GOSPs, terminals, pipelines.” Much of

the data is gathered by Remote Terminal Units, or RTUs.

These units monitor operations located far from plants

or manned operation centers. The RTUs and Supervisory

Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are highly

sensitive, able to detect developing problems and alert

operators at the OCC with alarms.

“The ability to provide us with critical information

rapidly helps us prevent stoppages or failures,” said

Al-Eissa. “In fact, we have a field electronics system that

not only gathers data but enables us to actually control

remote operations without anyone being present. The

shift coordinators, who watch

over the entire OCC, can

instantly take action to

prevent major problems.”

One of the hallmarks of

OSPAS is change. “Nothing

stands still,” said Al-Shami.

“We are continually upgrading and optimizing.”

One example is the use of the Plant Information Systems

(PI) components. PIs gather all types of information from

within the plant environment.

“Right now, we get 35 percent of our data from PIs,” said

Al-Eissa. “That information

used to come from RTUs.”

The PIs’ advantage is

that they are in the plant

anyway and can gather the

data automatically. This

eliminates the need for RTUs and frees up the RTU-dedi-

cated circuit. However, the RTUs play an important role

out in the desert with the pipelines.

The master SCADA systemsTwo SCADA systems serve as the centerpieces for data

President and CEOAbdallah S. Jum‘ah, clap-ping second from left,and other executives celebrates the inaugu-ration of OCC’s newvideo wall.

“How impressive is the control center! The world economy may rely on the

efficiency of Saudi Aramco.” — Oliver Appert, President & CEO, French Institute of Petroleum

Above: Critical meetings can be held in the roomthat overlooks the OCC. Pictured from right areGeneral supervisor Khalid Al-Omair, engineerJaman Al-Zahrani, OSPAS manager Adel Al-Dossary,group leader Maan Shami, general supervisorAbdulrahman Ghabra, general supervisor Awad Al-Qahtani and specialist Mutlaq Al-Da’ajani. Allcoordinators can call up a vast number of imageson their computer systems, and the shift coordina-tor can remotely operate critical functions.

gathering. One is the

central dispatch sys-

tem for all hydrocar-

bon operations and

the other is for

power distribution

in the Kingdom.

“The hydrocarbon

SCADA system is

one of biggest in

the world,” said Al-

Eissa. “It provides

25,000 points of

data for the OCC.”

The power distri-

bution SCADA sys-

tem interfaces with

the Saudi Electricity

Co. and monitors the

power distribution

system within Saudi

Aramco 24/7, watch-

ing the status of

breakers, voltage

and transformers.

However, even the SCADA system is subject to change.

Menahi D. Al-Gahtani, applications and system specialist,

Real-Time Systems Division, is the project coordinator for

replacing the current hydrocarbon SCADA system.

“IT systems become obsolete quickly, so we are continu-

ously upgrading and improving the system,” Al-Gahtani

said, “but there comes a point when it needs to be changed.”

The new SCADA system will be able to handle more

applications and interfaces, and handle all the additional proj-

ects the growing OSPAS organization will need to monitor.

“The new system should be up and running by middle

of 2008,” said Al-Gahtani.

Information at your fingertipsApplications are a big part of IT support. According to

Mohammed A. Makhdoum, supervisor, Applications Sup-

port Unit Real-Time Systems Division, his people provide

all-day everyday support for the hydrocarbon and power

SCADA systems.

Also, they relentlessly

seek and implement

the latest technolo-

gies that help OCC

planners perform

their job in a more

efficient manner.

Another function

of this unit is to

develop new appli-

cations that provide

users with monitor-

ing and control

capabilities of

field devices.

“Our applica-

tions allow the shift

coordinator in the

OCC to control

valves remotely

from his computer,”

Makhdoum said.

The objective is

to make the tech-

nology work at the optimum rate. Developers have created

a wide range of applications that provide critical informa-

tion quickly and effortlessly. One example is the Tank

Monitoring Application.

“We’ve been able to provide a view of all of the compa-

ny’s tanks,” said Makhdoum. “We can see which tanks are

available, which are under repair. A planner can click on a

tank icon and see its activity, which product it is storing,

its level and the pumpable quantity on a real-time basis.”

One strength of the application-development team that

translates across all of OSPAS is communication among all

members of the team.

“We live with the users, talk their language and value

their requirements so we can develop the applications they

need to do their job,” said Makhdoum. “In addition, if we

see an application or any enabling technology we believe

will help operations, we obtain it and customize it for our

people’s specific use.”

Winter 2006 19

Replaced the map-boards with videowalls in 2005.

The video wall’s size is 67 meters long by 3 meters high.

Consists of 150 stitched, blackmasked 1.7-meter screens.

Projection uses Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology.

Central Dispatch Center has about 18,000data points updated every 15 seconds.

SAP (operations-management software)information is also updated every 15 seconds, except for the SaudiStrategic Storage Program information,which is updated every 20 minutes.

PDS has about 12,000 points updatedevery 2 seconds.

Video Wall

Applications development also created the Marine

Terminal Planning Board System. This provides a view of

all tankers arriving at and departing from Saudi Aramco

marine terminals within a four-day time frame.

“This application provides information about the

cargo, load, destination, arrival date and all the ships’

data,” Makhdoum said. “Operations must be on top of

all aspects of distribution all the time, and this application

provides key information that allows them to make deci-

sions accurately and quickly.”

The bottom line is that IT has positioned itself to see

exactly what Operations needs. According to Al-Eissa,

“We keep on top of technology advances around the world.

Anything that provides added value for Operations will be

purchased and implemented. In fact, you could say our job is

to make Operations’ jobs easier by providing the technology

that provides better information that can be easily accessed.”

It isn’t just technology; it is also people. As Al-Eissa

underscored, “You can’t teach people to be proactive.

They bring that quality to their work. What we do is find

the best people and develop them to be integrated with

everyone in OSPAS. That gives them the grounding to be

proactive, come up with ideas, and turn those ideas into

value-added reality.”

Operations: Efficiency in actionOSPAS is at the very heart of Saudi Aramco. This remark-

able organization is dedicated not just to perfection but

continual improvement. That’s because everything its peo-

ple do can be ultimately

measured in money —

a lot of money. Present

and future are always

considered in great detail.

The time span covered

ranges from every two

seconds that data is refreshed to an 11-year plan that fore-

casts demand and supply of hydrocarbons, as well as all

the factors that may potentially affect Saudi Aramco’s

future business.

All aspects of operations are monitored, and any impact

on supply of products to cus-

tomers is determined. For

example, the entire Testing and

Inspection (T&I) of plants,

The video wall, below, is able to display photo-graphic images and specially designed icons.

“Congratulations for your safe and reliable operational control room.

We, from Petrobras, appreciate very much your experience and efficiency.”

— José Sérgio Gabrielli de Azevedo, President and CEO, Petrobras

support to OSPAS operations divisions and Executive

Management,” said Yousef A. Al-Ali, general supervisor of

the Supply Planning and Engineering Division. “We provide

optimization analysis, economic reviews and evaluations on

projects, operations and system operating strategies.”

“We also produce all types of optimization plans (from

monthly to annually to 10-year plans) for crude, gas, NGL,

gas condensate and refined products systems,” Al-Ali said.

“And since we see the entire picture of Saudi Aramco

operations — present and future — we sometimes have

to adjust a specific plant operation to keep in step with

our global optimization,” said Essam A. Ali, supervisor

of Refined Products Supply Planning.

“That sometimes means a plant locally loses money by

running against its own optimal operation, but globally

the Kingdom is realizing additional revenue,” he said.

“The OSPAS intricate global optimization model enables

us to see how losing a few million dollars within a plant

may help us earn hundreds of millions of dollars globally.

It’s a matter of perspective, and OSPAS operations are full

of such examples.”

Eisa S. Al-Madani,

Engineering and Technology

Group Leader, said, “We also

review capital projects and

incorporate major comments

pipelines, etc., is carefully noted and arranged so that there is

little or no disruption when a facility is routinely shut down.

Of course, not all shutdowns are routine. Emergency

closings of plants or specific operations must be quickly con-

tained and contingency plans put into play. Every person —

from planners and staff engineers in the OCC to all the divi-

sions — quickly determines how to mitigate any difficulty.

That is why they are well trained with a clear objective:

Always ensure supply gets to the customer in the safest

manner and that profits are maximized.

These goals explain the many-faceted nature of OSPAS.

On one hand its people are thoroughly engaged in ensuring

that Saudi Aramco operations are uninterrupted. The huge

video-wall projects an amazing amount of views and infor-

mation that help instantly spot potential problems. If a

problem occurs, contingency plans are immediately launched

so that any potential supply interruption is eliminated or,

at least, minimized. On the other hand, OSPAS also is

responsible for continuously optimizing operational

processes, ensuring that all decisions reflect the goal of

increasing the Kingdom’s profits.

The organization that focuses on long-term supply

and projects is Supply Planning and Engineering.

“Our vital objective is to provide long-term supply

planning to ensure continuous supply of hydrocarbon prod-

ucts to Saudi Aramco customers, and provide technical

The video wall isdesigned to show thereal-time interrelation-ship of oil, gas, refining,terminal and electricpower operations.

Winter 2006 21

that contain operational sense to achieve company objec-

tives. In addition, we are the only entity that looks after the

long-term testing and inspection plans for all Saudi Aramco

facilities. We always assure that shutdown activities are

planned in due time with no impact on meeting customers’

commitment.”

The Big BoardWhen you walk into the OCC, the enormous video wall

(67 meters wide and three meters high) grabs your atten-

tion. This is the nerve center of Saudi Aramco. All 18,000

real-time, hydrocarbon-movement operations, updated

every 15 seconds, and 12,000 electric-power generation

and distribution operations, updated every two seconds,

are reflected on its 150 1.7-meter screens.

In this room, planners, shift coordinators and engineers

monitor all data, looking for possible problems, checking

to see which product or tanker needs to be redirected, and

they are in contact by phone, radio and network to field

personnel. It is a free flow of information coordinated and

managed by highly motivated people with a great deal of

experience. In fact, most OSPAS employees have 15 or

more years of field experience and know Saudi Aramco

operations from top to bottom.

The video wall also reflects the reality of OSPAS, and that

is that everything is interconnected. One operation smoothly

flows into another — on the wall and in real life. And if

something interferes with the smooth operation, all operat-

ing organizations are flexible enough to rapidly adapt.

“Tankers are responsible for moving crude oil and

products,” said Abdulrahman M. Ghabra, general supervi-

sor, Terminal Planning Division. “We have to interact with

oil and refined products because we are working in a fine

balance. Weather, breakdowns or various disruptions may

cause one or more tankers to be late in getting to one of

our terminals. This has ramifications for production, stor-

age and customers. If product can’t be transported, we

may have to cut production as the last resort after maxi-

mizing storage. Our decisions must be fast and accurate

or we will lose money.”

Movement of oil, gas, natural gas liquids (NGL), termi-

nal (shipping) and refined products all have a place on the

video wall.

“For oil, monitoring the ever-changing demand for prod-

uct and creating the perfect mix of products for export and

in-Kingdom consumption is vital,” said Azzouz. “We plan

out everything, taking input from petroleum engineering to

understand oil availability.” Again, the objective is to ensure

the right mix of product for Saudi Aramco’s customers.

The Oil Division is responsible for monitoring the vast

complex of pipelines in the kingdom.

“We are the first line of defense,” said Azzouz. “We need

to see the overall picture of interconnecting the pipeline

among operations.”

The absolute scale of operations overseen by OSPAS is

gargantuan. In addition to being the major supplier of oil

to the world, Saudi Aramco owns the fourth largest gas

reserves, but that isn’t the whole story.

“Our Master Gas System is the largest integrated sys-

tem in the world,” said Emad A. Al-Reshoud, general

supervisor, Gas and

NGL Division. “We are

unique. There is nothing

like this anyplace. Our

system is huge, and we

are leveraging these

resources for the King-

dom’s benefit. Our gas

and NGL operations

are massive to an extent that our NGL production exceeds

the oil output of some OPEC countries.”

As vast as OSPAS operations are, everyone continues to

be focused on the bottom line. Nasser Al-Mahasher, general

supervisor, Refined Products Division, understands the

importance of his task: “My customers are those who drive

cars, run utility plants and provide power to their nations.”

The Refined Products Division, as is the case with all

OSPAS operations, is extremely flexible. “We need to meet

our customers demand, but we also must meet the King-

dom’s needs and maximize profitability,” Al-Mahasher said.

“Plus, when an unexpected event occurs, Refined Products

must be able to shift on the fly and create a new mix of

products that takes advantage of any situation.”

Not part of OSPAS, but critical to operations is the

Power Operation and Control Unit (PO&CU). It monitors

and controls the Saudi Aramco power network. “We are

stationed at the OCC to effectively coordinate with the

company’s oil and gas operations to ensure electrical

power is provided safely, reliably and in a cost-effective

22 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

“Congratulations on this extraordinary room at OSPAS, which demonstrates

Aramco’s technological leadership and mastery, its unique place in world oil

and the outstanding capabilities and dedication of its people. This is a his-

toric occasion.” —Mr. Daniel Yergin, Chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA)

manner, “ said Abdallah S. Guraishi, Supervisor, Power

Operation & Control Unit. “We also are the single point

of contact for Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) in dealing

with interrelated power operations.”

A team approachOne aspect of operations that every single person emphasized

was teamwork. “All divisions and IT work together,” said

Al-Dossary. In fact, teamwork and communications is so

important that at 7:05 every morning there is a conference-

call meeting in which key personnel in OSPAS, operations

organizations and IT are represented. Just like the old

American police dramas, everyone gathers together to discuss

potential difficulties that may be encountered during the day.

“This meeting brings everyone together,” said Al-Shami.

“All divisions are represented, and anything that may impact

operations is brought to light. We all have our objectives,

and we act accordingly.”

Of course, during any major crisis, OSPAS goes on an

even more impressive footing. Select additional personnel (in

addition to those who would be there anyway, since OSPAS

is a 24/7 operation) stay all night, and senior managers may

view operations from a specially designed conference room

with a window that overlooks the OCC and the video wall.

The FutureOSPAS will continue to search

for improvements and optimize

performance. “We are the

Think Tank of Saudi Aramco daily hydrocarbon manage-

ment,” said Al-Dossary. As operations grow ever more com-

plex with additional huge projects, joint ventures and third

party operations, OSPAS will continue seeking new tech-

nologies to overcome future operational challenges.

Al-Dossary said that Sales and Marketing departments

may place representatives in the OCC to capture market

opportunities on the minute.

Also, in the optimization arena, Hamdan Al-Ghamdi

of Supply Planning and Engineering is leading an effort to

develop a simulation-based optimization model that will

integrate upstream operation activities. “This will provide

us with a continuous reach from well-head to gas and NGL

operation, and with the existing refining optimization sys-

tem, we will be able to optimize both upstream and down-

stream operations,” said Al-Ghamdi.

“One thing is certain,” Al-Dossary concluded, “OSPAS

will continue to lead the way to bring the latest technology

and highest level of expertise to ensure Saudi Aramco contin-

ues to be the reliable supplier of energy to the world.” ■

Winter 2006 23

Screens from individualsystems can be displayedon the video wall to geta larger perspective.