SAUDI Aramco has made multiple, but small, gas discoveries in the northwest of the kingdom as a result of its recent gas exploration activities far outside the oil-rich Eastern Province, Aramco president Khalid Al Falih says.

“We are undertaking a massive exploration campaign. We have found some gas in northwest Saudi Arabia,” Al Falih says. He identified Sidre, which is located near the Midyan gas field appraised by Aramco last year. There were “a couple” of other gas bearing structures in the same region, but he did not name them. They are not giant fields, but they contain conventional gas resources, he says. “We cannot assess the full size of those discoveries nor their full contributions, but you will certainly see development of those resources. You will see use for that gas in power generation,” he says.

Midyan, which will pump 75 million cubic feet per day for 20 years, will feed local power generation and – most importantly – replace liquid fuel burning, which has become a critical concern with run-away Saudi domestic consumption. Al Falih has recently played up the ability of a wide range of domestic gas resources to meet the kingdom’s power generation requirements, which are expected to more than double by 2030.