Saudi Arabia announces discovery of four new oil and gas fields

Saudi Arabia has discovered four new oil and gas fields in the kingdom, Energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz announced on Sunday.

The discoveries were made by Saudi Aramco in different parts of the country, he was quoted as saying by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Non-conventional oil has been discovered in the Al-Reesh oil field, north-west of Dhahran, with Well No. 2 containing 4,452 barrels per day of Arab extra light crude oil, he said. It also has reserves of 3.2 million standard cubic feet of natural gas.

To determine the field’s size, Aramco has drilled Al-Reesh Well No. 3 and Well No. 4 as well. While Well No. 3’s initial production has reached 2,745 barrels per day of the same oil type, along with 3 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, Well No. 4’s daily flow of Arab extra light crude oil amounts to 3,654 barrels per day, along with a daily 1.6 million standard cubic feet of natural gas.

Meanwhile 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 the Al-Minahhaz well amounts to 18 million standard cubic feet daily, along with a daily 98 barrels of condensate. Meanwhile the Al-Sahbaa well can produce gas at a daily rate of 32 million standard cubic feet.

Oil has also been discovered in Al-Ajramiyah Well No. 1, which lies to the north-west of the city of Rafhaa in the Northern Borders province. The well test shows a rate of 3,850 barrels of oil per day, the SPA report stated.

Prince Abdulaziz stressed that the discovery at Al-Reesh field is “especially important as it shows that it is possible to produce Arab extra light crude oil at the Tuwaiq Mountain Formation”.

He also said that Saudi Aramco continues to work on determining the size and volume of discovered fields and estimating the amount of oil, gas, and condensate in these fields.

The discoveries “underline the wealth of natural resources the kingdom has at its disposal”, he added.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, has roughly 17 per cent of the world’s proven petroleum reserves. The country also has the eighth-largest gas reserves in the world.