Saudi Aramco`s Research Center wins New Horizons Idea Award

DHAHRAN, November 19, SPA -- The EXPEC Advanced Research Center
(EXPEC ARC) won the prestigious New Horizons Idea Award at the 2008
World Oil Awards. The award was granted for the research and
innovation of Resbots (reservoir robots).

Resbots are nanorobots, less than 1/100th the size of the human
hair, that can move through the reservoir. They will be deployed as a
microscopic army with injected water into the reservoir. During their
journey, they will analyze reservoir pressure, temperature and fluid
type, and store that information in onboard memory. They will then be
picked up from the produced crude at the producing wells to download
that information and tell us everything about the reservoir they have
encountered during their journey, thus effectively mapping the
reservoir.

EXPEC ARC manager Muhammad M. Saggaf and the Resbot team presented
the award to Khalid A. Al-Falih, executive vice president of
Operations, during a November 9 visit to EXPEC ARC. Accompanied by
top officials from Exploration and Producing, Al-Falih recognized the
Resbots team and EXPEC ARC, commending them on their major
achievement. “Congratulations, EXPEC ARC! This is a tremendous step,”
Al-Falih said during the ceremony. “I am very proud of this award.”

Al-Falih toured the center and received brief presentations from
several technologists on current research and milestones, followed by
a light luncheon with the EXPEC ARC team. “Each time I visit EXPEC
ARC and learn about their initiatives and accomplishments, I leave
feeling energized and confident of the future,” Al-Falih was quoted
as saying in a report carried today by Saudi Aramco's web-site.

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