Zawya Dow Jones reported that Saudi Aramco has shelved plans to upgrade its aging onshore Dammam oil field at a cost of USD 1.2 billion amid falling oil prices.

Saudi Aramco in a statement said that companies interested in developing the field that the requisition has been canceled. It didn’t provide any additional details in the statement.

Under the original plan, Aramco had planned to upgrade the Dammam field, first tapped in 1938, to produce 100,000 barrels per day of crude at an estimated cost of USD 1.2 billion.
In October 2008, Aramco had launched the initial phase of the project tender. Oil prices below USD 50 a barrel may force the Middle East’s national oil companies to cutback plans to upgrade aging fields and pump more crude.