JEDDAH, 19 April 2005 — A new oil field producing light crude has been found in the center of the Kingdom, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi announced yesterday.
Saudi Aramco found the Duaiban-1 well, which will pump 3,300 barrels per day of sulfur-free crude with an API gravity of 41 degrees, 125 kilometers southeast of the capital Riyadh.
According to Al-Naimi, the oil in Duaiban field is accompanied by three million cubic feet a day of gas. “We expect that the new oil field could produce large quantity of light crude,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.
OPEC sources say the Kingdom is pumping around 9.5 million bpd this month. Production is expected to rise toward the 10 million mark in May, according to industry sources.
Al-Naimi said earlier that the Kingdom would pump more crude later this year. “World demand is forecast to grow in the last part of the year, which will necessitate an increase in production. Hence Saudi Arabia will raise its production from the current level later this year,” Al-Naimi said.
Riyadh has embarked on an ambitious scheme to boost production capacity, officially pegged at 11 million bpd, to 12.5 million by 2009.
Saudi Aramco recently signed contracts with international engineering and construction firms to develop its Khursaniyah oil and gas project and Hawiyah NGL program.
Aramco said the Khursaniyah project will add 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Saudi Arabia’s production capacity by the end of 2007.
The Hawiyah NGL recovery program will produce an additional 310,000 barrels of ethane and NGL products by 2008.
