Riyadh: Saudi Arabia has heralded a new era, unveiling plans to develop the giant Al-Jafoura gas field, with trillions cubic feet reserves.
The Higher Committee for Hydrocarbons unveiled the plans during a meeting chaired by Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
Located in the Eastern Province, the massive Al-Jafoura field, is the largest non-conventional and non-associate gas field to be discovered in Saudi.
The field, which is 170 kilometres long and 100 km wide, has an overall volume of gas deposits estimated at 200 trillion cubic feet of wet gas, including gas liquids for the petrochemical industries and high-value capacitors.
Prince Mohammed praised the efforts of the national company "Saudi Aramco" in developing the field, with investments amounting to $110 billion (SR 412 billion.)
Stages of its development will gradually increase the field's production of gas to reach on development completion to 2.2 trillion cubic feet per year, in 2036, that would represent about 25 percent of current production.
The field will be able to produce 130,000 barrels per day of ethane, representing about 40 percent of the current production, and about 500,000 barrels per day of gas liquids and condensates required for the petrochemical industries, representing about 34 percent of the current production.
The Crown Prince directed that the priority of allocating the field's production of gas and its liquids be given to the local sectors operating in industry, electricity, water desalination, mining and others.
He indicated that the development of the field would earn Saudi, within 22 years, from the beginning of its development, a net income of about $8.6 billion annually (SR32 billion) and provides gross domestic product with an estimated $20 billion (SR75 billion) annually.