Saudi Arabia's Giant Ghawar Oilfield to Ramp Up Production

Saudi Arabia is investing in more advanced technology to increase production from its giant Ghawar oilfield. Most national oil companies are reluctant to invest oil profits in new technology, choosing instead to use the oil wealth for weapons, social programs, other means of power brokering, or corrupt and conspicuous consumption. The Saudis are demonstrating a fiscal discipline which is uncommon in the third world, and which speaks well about how seriously the Saudis looking into the future.

Saudi Arabia is planning to deploy new technology to extract more crude from the world’s largest oilfield that pumps more than double the combined output of the UAE and Kuwait, its state hydrocarbon operator has said.

...The field now pumps more than 60 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s crude production, six per cent of the world’s oil supplies and over 15 per cent of Opec’s output.

Located in the eastern part of the Empty Quarter desert along the western Gulf coast, Ghawar pumps nearly five million bpd of the top quality light crude and around 2.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas.

The field’s production reached a peak of about 5.7 million bpd by 1981 — a world record for continuous production in a single field — but output was reduced later that decade due to declining global demand. Still, the field’s current, sustained five million bpd output is unrivalled. _Emirates24/7_via_EnergyTribune