Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, May 11 -- Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi said his country plans to increase its natural gas production in order to meet demand growth from domestic industries.
"We are planning to add in the next 10 years 100 tcf to our current reserves of gas," Al-Naimi said in Riyadh at a conference on Saudi economic development. He said the gas expansion would be an integral part of the country's National Project to Develop Industrial Areas.
"Our future gas production and development plans will meet current and future need for gas in the kingdom...now we are entering a new period of developing petrochemical industries and gas exploitation which will have a big impact on the economy," Al-Naimi said.
Domestic gas sales are expected to rise by 40% through 2012 from the current level of around 7 bcfd, Al-Naimi said, adding that demand growth would come from industries producing such commodities as cars, construction materials, household appliances, and metals.
To produce the additional gas, Al-Naimi said his country plans to drill 186 gas exploration wells and 332 gas development wells by 2012—the same year that production of gas will start at the offshore Karan gas field which, he said, is expected to support domestic gas sales of 770 MMcfd.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
