The president of Saudi Arabia's state oil company said Monday he was keeping the oil flowing despite the flight of some foreign workers after attacks.
In an interview to The AP, Abdullah Jum'ah, president and chief executive officer of the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said the departure of foreign workers could not be described as an exodus.
"Has our production been affected by the departure of some of our employees? The answer is no," Jum'ah conveyed.
Saudis make up some 86 percent of the work force in Saudi Aramco, Jum'ah noted. According to him, Aramco employs some 7,000 foreign workers, of whom 19 percent are Americans.
Jum'ah disclosed security drills have been conducted recently, and new steps taken following the attacks include stricter inspections and deploying government forces around oil facilities.
He said special security measures have been adopted in the company's residential compounds.
"The philosophy of our security was to prevent unauthorized access. Now we are moving more to a defensive type" of security to prevent forced intrusion, Jum'ah said.
Jum'ah said even if there were to be sabotage somewhere along Saudi Arabia's 9,300 miles of pipelines, exports would go on.
Jum'ah added the kingdom could make up for any shortfall linked to Iraq, where oil production has been hit by sabotage and instability. (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
