Aramco Adds Significant Volumes to Proven Gas, Condensate Reserves at Jafurah Field

Aramco Adds Significant Volumes to Proven Gas, Condensate Reserves at Jafurah Field
TT

Aramco Adds Significant Volumes to Proven Gas, Condensate Reserves at Jafurah Field

Aramco Adds Significant Volumes to Proven Gas, Condensate Reserves at Jafurah Field

Saudi Aramco, one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, has added significant volumes to the proven gas and condensate reserves at the Jafurah unconventional field in Saudi Arabia.

The Company has booked 15 trillion standard cubic feet (scf) of raw gas and two billion stock tank barrels (STB) of condensate as proven reserves at Jafurah. It is now estimated that Jafurah contains a total of 229 trillion scf of raw gas, alongside an estimated 75 billion STB of condensate.

These new estimates were calculated using a novel approach to shale reserve booking, which was applied to unconventional resources for the first time in the industry and has the potential to be deployed at a larger scale.

Reserve booking practices were assessed through establishing continuity of resources and consistency of performance. These new estimates were technically validated by respected industry reserves certification consultancy DeGolyer and MacNaughton, which reviewed the statistical booking mechanism and provided a fully independent assessment.

Aramco President and CEO Amin H. Nasser said: “This achievement enhances the Kingdom’s hydrocarbon wealth through proven gas reserves, which are a vital resource for the energy and chemicals industries.”

“Aramco’s upstream business is deploying state-of-the-art technologies including advanced modeling and artificial intelligence to make tangible progress in developing Jafurah, which is one of the company’s growth catalysts and an important economic empowerment for the Kingdom. The field represents a key element in our ambitious strategy to increase Aramco’s gas production,” he stressed.

Work is currently underway to deliver production at Jafurah, with plans to ramp up to reach a sustainable sales gas rate of two billion scf by 2030, in addition to significant volumes of ethane, Natural Gas Liquids (NGL), and condensate.



Oil Edges Up on Strong US GDP Data

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
TT

Oil Edges Up on Strong US GDP Data

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

Oil prices were up slightly on Friday on stronger-than-expected US economic data that raised investor expectations for increasing crude oil demand from the world's largest energy consumer.

But concerns about soft economic conditions in Asia's biggest economies, China and Japan, capped gains.

Brent crude futures for September rose 7 cents to $82.44 a barrel by 0014 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude for September increased 4 cents to $78.32 per barrel, Reuters reported.

In the second quarter, the US economy grew at a faster-than-expected annualised rate of 2.8% as consumers spent more and businesses increased investments, Commerce Department data showed. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted US gross domestic product would grow by 2.0% over the period.

At the same time, inflation pressures eased, which kept intact expectations that the Federal Reserve would move forward with a September interest rate cut. Lower interest rates tend to boost economic activity, which can spur oil demand.

Still, continued signs of trouble in parts of Asia limited oil price gains.

Core consumer prices in Japan's capital were up 2.2% in July from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, raising market expectations of an interest rate hike in the near term.

But an index that strips away energy costs, seen as a better gauge of underlying price trends, rose at the slowest annual pace in nearly two years, suggesting that price hikes are moderating due to soft consumption.

China, the world's biggest crude importer, surprised markets for a second time this week by conducting an unscheduled lending operation on Thursday at steeply lower rates, suggesting authorities are trying to provide heavier monetary stimulus to prop up the economy.