Saudi Arabia has confirmed that a significant amount of additional gas reserves at state oil company Aramco's giant Jafurah field has been proven, boosting the kingdom's energy sector.
The additional reserves amount to 15 trillion standard cubic feet of gas and two billion barrels of condensate, the Ministry of Energy said on Sunday.
Resources in the Jafurah field are now estimated at around 229 trillion cf of gas and 75 billion barrels of condensate, which were confirmed by a "major independent consulting company specialised in the field of resource approval and proven reserves", the ministry said.
"This achievement was achieved as a result of applying the highest international standards in estimating and developing hydrocarbon resources."
The Jafurah unconventional gasfield lies south-east of the Ghawar oilfield in the kingdom's Eastern Province. Unconventional resources refer to those that require advanced extraction methods.
Riyadh has committed to developing the field, with Saudi Aramco in 2021 awarding contracts worth $10 billion for the endeavour. At the time, the capital expenditure at Jafurah – the largest non-associated gasfield in the kingdom – was expected to reach $68 billion over the first 10 years of development.
With an estimated 200 trillion cf of gas in place, the Jafurah basin hosts the largest liquid-rich shale gas play in the Middle East.
This covers an area of 17,000 square kilometres. The production of natural gas at Jafurah is expected to increase to 2 billion standard cubic feet per day (scfd) of shale gas by 2030, from 200 million scfd in 2025, with 418 million scfd of ethane and around 630,000 barrels per day of gas liquids and condensates, which are feedstock for the petrochemical industry.
It will make Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, one of the world’s largest natural gas producers.
The project is a key component of Aramco’s long-term strategy and the company expects total overall life cycle investment at Jafurah to exceed $100 billion.
Aramco, the world's biggest oil-exporting company, expects to create more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs through its unconventional gas programme at the Jafurah, North Arabia and South Ghawar fields.
