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Saudi Jafurah Field Discovery Boosts Kingdom’s Gas Production Status

The resources at Jafurah are now estimated at 229 trillion standard cu ft of gas and 75 billion barrels of condensates. (Saudi Aramco)
The resources at Jafurah are now estimated at 229 trillion standard cu ft of gas and 75 billion barrels of condensates. (Saudi Aramco)
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Saudi Jafurah Field Discovery Boosts Kingdom’s Gas Production Status

The resources at Jafurah are now estimated at 229 trillion standard cu ft of gas and 75 billion barrels of condensates. (Saudi Aramco)
The resources at Jafurah are now estimated at 229 trillion standard cu ft of gas and 75 billion barrels of condensates. (Saudi Aramco)

Saudi Aramco, the Saudi Arabian oil giant, has made a groundbreaking discovery in its unconventional Jafurah Field, adding 15 trillion standard cubic feet of gas and 2 billion barrels of condensate to its reserves.

With this find, the resources at Jafurah are now estimated at 229 trillion standard cu ft of gas and 75 billion barrels of condensates.

This strategic discovery not only increases the total reserves in Jafurah but also underscores Saudi Arabia’s positioning in the natural gas sector amid its ongoing energy transition efforts.

The Ministry of Energy confirmed the find in a press statement, quoting Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

The ministry emphasized that Aramco’s adherence to the highest international standards in estimating and developing hydrocarbon resources has ensured the proper exploitation of these resources.

Jafurah is considered the biggest shale gas reserve in the Middle East. It holds around 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas underground, which could help cut emissions and serve as a source for cleaner fuels in the future.

Experts predict that this increase will make Saudi Arabia a major global gas producer, diversifying its energy mix and allowing it to stockpile substantial gas reserves for export.

This shift reflects the Kingdom’s ambition to be recognized as an all-encompassing energy producer, not just reliant on oil.

Dr. Mohammed Suroor Al-Sabban, a former senior advisor at the Saudi Ministry of Energy, emphasized the importance of this increase, noting it aligns with the Kingdom’s goals of energy diversification.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he highlighted that it solidifies Saudi Arabia’s position as a leading energy producer and enhances global interest in its energy sector.

Al-Sabban also highlighted the increasing global interest in gas and its role in electricity generation and water desalination.

He stressed that Saudi Arabia’s large gas reserve will make it a significant player in the global market, especially with advancements in shale oil and gas technologies reducing production costs.

Last August, the China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., also known as Sinopec, expressed interest in Saudi Arabia’s shale gas development project at Jafurah.

In October, South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction and Hyundai Engineering also signed a $2.4bn contract with oil giant Saudi Aramco to build a gas processing plant at Jafurah.

Economic expert Tareq Al-Ateeq sees the big increase in gas and condensate reserves in the Jafurah field as a boost for Saudi Arabia’s economy.

He predicted that once the field is up and running, Saudi Arabia will be the world’s third-largest gas producer. This will help diversify the Kingdom’s energy and support Aramco in becoming the world’s largest energy company.

Al-Ateeq believes this will bring in more money for Saudi Arabia and fund big projects, supporting the Kingdom’s growth plans. It will also meet the needs of different sectors like electricity, water, and mining, helping the economy grow.

He also underscored that exporting gas is becoming more important and expected a big increase in demand for gas by 2040.

Gas is cleaner and cheaper to produce than oil, and it will help create jobs and boost the Kingdom’s economy, stressed Al-Ateeq, adding that the financial benefits of these changes will show over time as production increases.

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IMF Says International Community Should Provide Grants to Lebanon

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon October 25, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon October 25, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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IMF Says International Community Should Provide Grants to Lebanon

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon October 25, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon October 25, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The international community should work to end the conflict in the Middle East and provide grants to Lebanon, the head of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia department has said.

Jihad Azour spoke to AFP in Washington, where the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are currently taking place.

In updated economic estimates, the Fund slightly downgraded its outlook for economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa to 2.1 percent this year, while maintaining its 4.0 percent growth outlook for 2025.

However, these estimates do not take into account the economic impact of the recent escalation of conflict in southern Lebanon, where Israel has invaded to fight Hezbollah.

Azour, a former Lebanese finance minister, noted that the most severely affected places, including Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, were facing a "huge humanitarian problem" which has devastated their economies.

"You have massive loss in output, you have a massive destruction in infrastructure, and you have a huge set of needs for additional spending, for shelter, for health and so on," he said.

"We expect that growth will be negative in those cases, and we expect that the recovery would take longer to materialize," he added.

The IMF has suspended its forecasts for the Lebanese economy, citing an "unusually high degree of uncertainty." But a recent United Nations Development report estimated that the country's GDP would be 9.2 percent smaller as a "direct consequence" of the conflict.

"You have massive destruction of infrastructure in a large region, which is the south, and mass destruction of livelihood, because this is an agricultural region that was severely affected," Azour said, adding that almost 20 percent of Lebanon's population had been displaced.

"We encourage the international community, we encourage the friends of Lebanon, to provide grants," he continued, calling on the international community "to put its utmost effort in order to solve the problem, in order to reduce the suffering of people."

For countries indirectly affected by the conflict, like Jordan and Egypt, the impact of Israel's ongoing military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon has been felt differently.

While Egypt has been hit hard by a 70 percent fall in revenues from ships traversing the Suez Canal, Jordan's economy has suffered from a steep decline in tourism, Azour said.