RIYADH, 14 August 2005 — The company which won the contract to search for gas in the Empty Quarter desert began it first stage of the project, Riyadh newspaper reported. The company will spend more than $3 billion in the first five years in cooperation with Saudi Aramco. The first stage is very important because results will determine whether search operations will continue or not. It is expected that, if gas is discovered, the companies would increase their investments in gas projects and would generate more than 50 thousand jobs.