LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Saudi Arabia: Red Sea
built 627 days ago
Saudi Arabia has eight refineries, with combined crude throughput capacity of around 1.75 million bbl/d, plus around 1.6 million bbl/d of refining capacity overseas. The Rabigh refinery on the Red Sea coast is slated for upgrade, with plans to shift the refinery's product slate away from low-value heavy products towards gasoline and kerosene. In addition, there is talk of building a $4 billion, 400,000-bbl/d heavy conversion export refinery in Yanbu.
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Saudi Arabia has very strict rules for what may be imported: alcoholic beverages, pork, non-Islamic religious materials and pornography (very widely defined) are all prohibited. Computers, VCR tapes and DVDs have all been seized from time to time for inspection by the authorities. In general, though, inspections aren't quite as thorough as they used to be and while bags are still x-rayed, minute searches are the exception rather than the rule.
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Saudi Arabia operates two major oil pipelines. The 5-million-bbl/d East-West Crude Oil Pipeline (Petroline), operated by Aramco since 1984 (when it took over from Mobil), is used mainly to transport Arabian Light and Super Light to refineries in the Western Province and to Red Sea terminals for export to European markets. The Petroline was constructed in 1981, with initial capacity of 1.85 million bbl/d on a single, 48-inch line (AY-1). The Petroline was expanded in 1987, during the height of the Iran-Iraq war (and specifically the so-called "tanker war" in the Gulf), to 3.2 million bbl/d, with the addition of a parallel ("looped") , 56-inch line (AY-1L). Finally, in 1993, Petroline capacity was increased to 5.0 million bbl/d by adding significant pumping capability on the line. Reportedly, the Saudis expanded the Petroline in part to maintain Yanbu as a strategic option to Gulf port facilities in the event that exports were blocked at that end.
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Saudi Arabia's geography is varied. From the western coastal region (Tihamah), the land rises from sea level to a peninsula-long mountain range (Jabal al-Hejaz) beyond which lies the plateau of Nejd in the center. The southwestern 'Asir region has mountains as high as 3,000 m (9,840 feet) and is known for having the greenest and freshest climate in all of the country, one that attracts many Saudis to resorts such as Abha in the summer months. The east is primarily rocky or sandy lowland continuing to the shores of the Persian Gulf. The geographically hostile Rub' al Khali ("Empty Quarter") desert along the country's imprecisely defined southern borders contains almost no life.
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Besides the Kuwaiti-Saudi Divided Zone, Saudi Arabia ... produces oil jointly with Bahrain, from the Abu Saafa offshore oilfield. As a way of supporting their neighbor's economy, since 1996 the field's Saudi administrators had donated all of the income from its 150,000 bbl/d of production to Bahrain. However, in late 2004, with output from Abu Saafa doubling to 300,000 bbl/d, the Saudis apparently reduced this share to 50 percent. In addition, Bahrain traditionally has received around 50,000 bbl/d of Saudi oil from other fields, apparently at a significant discount. The Abu Saafa pipeline passes through this area on its way to Bahrain. It now appears that the Saudis have stopped supplying that oil to Bahrain.
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What happens at the end of the day in Saudi Arabia reflects the profound role that Islam plays in the life of this country. As the last call to prayer drifts across Riyadh, there’s something new in the city’s nightlife: searchlights pinpointing the location of political meetings.
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