SOUTH Rub Al-Khali Company Limited (Srak) was incorporated as a joint venture company between Shell Saudi Ventures Limited and Saudi Arabian Oil Company on December 17, 2003 which commenced operations on January 26, 2004.
The company was restructured early this year and is now a 50-50 joint venture between Shell Saudi Ventures Limited and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company. The company’s business objectives are:
• To explore for, and commercially develop, non-associated gas, condensate and natural gas liquids in the Contract Areas awarded to the Company under the terms of the Upstream Project Agreement (UPA); and
• To build a sustainable long-term business in Saudi Arabia through the development of business relationships with key stakeholders.
Srak’s contract areas cover 209,160 km, located in the southern and eastern parts of Saudi Arabia and cover a large part of the South Rub ‘al Khali Basin. The exploration area is split into two groups of blocks, contract area 1 (Blocks 82-85) that borders the UAE to the north and Oman to the east and contract area 2 (blocks 5-9) that border Yemen to the south.
Srak has an exploration programme commitment during the first exploration period of five years of 16,000 km of equivalent 2D seismic and seven exploration wells. So far, the company has exceeded its minimum seismic work commitment by acquiring over 18,200 km of seismic by November 2006. After regional geological studies to understand the petroleum systems and to identify the most prospective areas to drill, Srak drilled its first three exploration wells in contract area 2. The first exploration well, Isharat-1 was started on the July 9, 2006 and was followed by Al-Mirtan-1 on March 21, 2007 and Seraj-1 on June 27, 2007. Based on the results of these wells an additional programme of 3,000 km was started in January 2008 in contract area 2 to select the best possible follow-up opportunities for the remaining wells. The fourth exploration well, Kidan-6, was started on February 29, 2008 and is being drilled in contract area 1.
