Saudi Aramco starts gas production at South Ghawar

RIYADH, November 15, 2023 – Saudi Aramco has begun production from its unconventional tight-gas South Ghawar play two months ahead of schedule, the Saudi Arabian NOC announced on Tuesday.

The surrounding facilities have the capacity to process 300 mcf per day and 38,000 bpd of condensate per day.

The company plans on ramping up production of the field to 750 mcf per day of gas.

The milestone is the second unconventional gas project to come on stream for the company following the North Arabia field in 2018.

“This first production of unconventional tight gas from South Ghawar is a milestone that demonstrates real progress on our gas expansion strategy, which we believe has a role to play in meeting the Kingdom’s needs for lower-emission energy and supporting growth in the chemicals sector,” said Nasir Al-Naimi, president of upstream operations of Saudi Aramco.

The company is currently working on the unconventional Jafurah gasfield project that contains an estimated 200 tcf of gas and is the largest shale gas play in Saudi Arabia.

The Jafurah project is expected to produce 420 mcf of ethane per day and 630,000 barrels of natural gas liquids and condensate per day.

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