JEDDAH, 29 January 2004 — A consortium of Italian oil company ENI and Spanish Repsol YPF won a contract yesterday to explore and produce natural gas in a nearly 52,000 sq. km. area north of the Rub Al-Khali or Empty Quarter. The area is known as Area C. Contracts for areas A and B have already been awarded.
“For area ‘C’ a consortium of ENI and Repsol won the contract and an agreement accepting their bid was signed,” Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi said. He said a new company — 50 percent owned by ENI, 30 percent by Repsol and 20 percent by Saudi Aramco — would be established for the project. No financial details or terms of the deal were disclosed.
On Tuesday China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) was awarded a contract for the exploration and production of natural gas in a 40,000 sq. km. area designated ‘B’, also in the Empty Quarter. Russia’s Lukoil was declared winner of a bid on Monday for a 30,000 sq. km. area designated ‘A’.
Saudi Arabia, which is the world’s largest oil producer and exporter, has launched an ambitious plan to develop its gas reserves, the fourth largest in the world. It wants to boost gas production to some 10 billion cubic feet (300 million cubic meters) per day by 2010 from around seven billion cubic feet daily at present.