Saudi Arabia to begin exporting gas

LONDON - The world’s top oil exporter and only energy superpower will start exporting gas and petrochemicals in the near future.

Saudi Arabia is planning to export gas and petrochemicals "soon," according to the country's energy minister. The comments by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, reported by Saudi media on 17 February, came in a televised speech at the SABIC 2020 Conference in Jubail Industrial City the previous day.

"Soon you will hear about the ability of the Kingdom to be a gas exporter and a petrochemical exporter," the Jeddah-based Saudi Gazette quoted Crown Prince Mohammed as saying.

"The main purpose of creating the ministry of energy is to expand the development of energy sources and create an integrated system from these sources,” the Crown Prince said.

“Such a system would provide the kingdom with all its energy needs in the best manner which would enable economic transformation as part of the Kingdom's Vision 2030," he added.

He highlighted that Saudi Arabia was seeking to make the best possible use of hydrocarbons, including using conventional and unconventional resources from oil and gas, which he said would "bring about a qualitative leap in the field of energy and the national economy in general," according to Okaz daily.

Riyadh has been investing in gas exploration as part of its efforts to reduce its reliance on crude oil for domestic power generation.

In other energy related news, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have started trial oil production from the jointly operated Wafra and Khafji oilfields from February 16 Kuwait’s oil minister said.

Khaled al-Fadhel said that trial production from the two fields in the Neutral Zone will increase gradually till it reaches its normal levels, Kuwait state news agency KUNA cited him as saying.

Fadhel said that he expects oil production from the Neutral Zone to reach 550,000 barrels per day before the end of the year. The production from the zone is divided between both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The minister also said Kuwait now aims to boost its oil production capacity to 4 million BPD by 2040, after revising the country’s oil strategy.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, both members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), agreed last year to end a five-year dispute over the border area known as the Neutral Zone, allowing production to resume at two jointly run fields that can pump up to 0.5% of the world’s oil supply.

(AP)