The discovery of four new oil and gas fields by Saudi Aramco “fits well” into the company’s plans for the future, according to an industry expert.
It was revealed on Sunday that the oil giant had discovered non-conventional oil in al-Reesh oil field, north-west of Dhahran.
A report carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency said that the Al-Reesh Well No. 2 has 4,452 barrels per day of Arab extra light crude oil, along with 3.2 million standard cubic feet of natural gas.
Carla Sertin (pictured below), editor of Oil & Gas Middle East told Arabian Business: “The discovery of new resources fits well into its plans for the future – Saudi Aramco has made efforts to leverage unconventional resources for some time, even partnering with US firm Halliburton in 2018 to develop the necessary technologies and solutions to lower the cost of producing these technically complex assets.”
Non-conventional gas has also been discovered in al-Sarrah reservoir at al-Minahhaz well, south-west of the Ghawar oil field, and at al-Sahbaa well, south of Ghawar. Gas from al-Minahhaz well amounts to 18 million standard cubic feet daily, along with a daily 98 barrels of condensate, and out of al-Sahbaa well a daily rate of 32 million standard cubic feet.
Sertin said this would be a “welcome addition” to the kingdom’s assets as it looks to boost its use of natural gas for domestic power generation.
She added: “Like most countries in the region, natural gas is a major part of Saudi Arabia’s strategy for a cleaner energy mix.”
According to the OPEC website, Saudi Arabia possesses around 17 percent of the world’s proven petroleum reserves. The oil and gas sector accounts for about 50 percent of gross domestic product, and about 70 percent of export earnings.
“New resources in general are important for Saudi Arabia, which has been extracting fossil fuels for almost 70 years,” said Sertin.
“Many of its fields are maturing, and its economy is still heavily reliant upon oil despite efforts to diversify. Since oil and gas will continue to play a major role in the country for the foreseeable future, these discoveries just add more potential and longevity to the kingdom’s oil and gas sector.”
Follow us on
