The anatomy of the worlds largest oil field request pdf. Structural cross section of central ghawar field 12. No the biggest saudi oil field is not fading faster. Recent signs that the oil fields may actually be nearing exhaustion could mean good news for the domestic oil industry. Fuel feud pits saudis secretive ghawar against sprawling. The lower permian unayzah formation is the principal prekhuff hydrocarbon reservoir in the southern ghawar area, where it contains both oil and gas. Decades of onshore and offshore exploration in saudi arabia have resulted in an extensive portfolio of oil and gas fields that includes the worlds largest onshore and offshore oil fields ghawar and safaniyah, respectively. Saudi has the worlds largest oil field, ghawar, and it is severely depleted. Scale is not documented but presumably bright red is 100% water saturation and dark blue is 0% water saturation. Known oil field size and grown oil field size versus field discovery year for horstblock anticlinal oil assessment unit.
The arabd reservoir in the ghawar field of saudi arabia is the worlds largest oil. But with ever higher ambitions, in 2016 we boosted production by a further 250,000 barrels, raising shaybahs total production capacity to one million barrels per day double the initial. Ghawar is entirely owned and operated by saudi aramco, the state run saudi oil company. Statistics about ghawara narrow, deep deposit in porous.
Measuring 280 by 30 km 174 by 19 mi, it is by far the largest conventional oil field in the world, and accounts for more than half of the cumulative oil production of saudi arabia. The main oilproducing reservoir is the jurassicaged arab d reservoir an elongate, northsouth trending anticline. Search and discovery featured articles radiometric analysis messinian salinity crisis wedgeshaped thrusts rift drift evolution. Origin of dolomite in the arabd reservoir from the ghawar.
Water cut is the ratio of water to total liquids production from an oil field. From north to south, they are fazran, ain dar, shedgum, uthmaniyah, haradh and hawiyah. By comparison, the largest oil field in the world the ghawar field in saudi arabia fig. Located in saudi arabia in alahsa governorate, ghawar is considered to be the worlds largest oil field. Diagram showing stratigraphic column and tectonostratigraphic events of the paleozoic. Total petroleum systems of the paleozoic and jurassic, greater ghawar uplift and adjoining provinces of. Oil from shaybah stabilized at the field is pumped via a 630 km long pipeline to abqaiq for blending.
The greater part of the production is derived from graindominated limestones and although the dolostones in the arabd in general. Pdf what do you know about the ghawar oil field, saudi arabia. The field is more than 250 km 155 mi long, as much as 30 km 18. Reservoir rock classification, arabd reservoir, ghawar. Induced and ambient crustal seismicity under the ghawar oilgas. Geologic overview and petroleum systems of the greater ghawar. Total petroleum systems of the paleozoic and jurassic. The anatomy of the worlds largest oil field search and. Chart showing growth history of major tectonic events and relative intensities. Can the permian outgrow the giant saudi ghawar field. It comprises more than a quarter saudi aramcos estimated total proved hydrocarbon reserves of 256. The anatomy of the worlds largest oil field abdulkader m.
Measuring 280 by 30 km 174 by 19 mi, it is by far the largest conventional oil field in the world, and accounts for roughly a third of the cumulative oil production of saudi arabia as of 2018. Oil saturation in reservoir simulation of all of ghawar. Ghawar is keeping the saudi government in the oil race. Saudi aramco is conducting an exploration program to discover additional nonassociated gas reserves in the ghawar area. The arabd carbonates of ghawar field have been grouped into a reservoir rock classification containing seven limestone and four dolomite rock types. Oil processing unit with multiple spheroids and 18 stabilizer columns 300 kbd each to remove hydrogen sulphide and light hydrocarbons.
In the case of managing the worlds largest asset, the ghawar oil field, saudi aramco runs its powers simulator on a massively parallel hpc. Discovered in 1948, the supergiant ghawar field in saudi arabia has pro duced four to. Stratigraphic, petrographic, and geochemical data suggests that at least four episodes of dolomitization affected these sediments. Saudi arabia, produces both oil and gas from the jurassic and paleozoic systems and has estimated known reserves of about 115 bbo and. Geology and production significance of dolomite, arabd reservoir, ghawar field, saudi arabia article pdf available january 2001 with 1,733 reads how we measure reads. Geologic overview and petroleum systems of the greater. Regardless of oils price or the valuation of aramco, potential investors should ask themselves an extremely important question. Aapg, ogj, eia field name country discovery year range of urr gb ghawar saudi arabia 1948 66100 burgan greater kuwait 1938 3260.
Based on our simulation model of ghawar, and a close comparison with nearby analogous fields, it is our assessment that ghawar is close to going on decline, if. Oil production of saudi arabia total and the ghawar field and the percentage of water cut in ghawar 19932003. Ghawar field is the worlds largest, most prolific field, producing 3031 api oil from the arabd carbonate reservoir. What you know about the ghawar oil field, saudi arabia.
Alanazi king saud university, riyadh, saudi arabia introduction in the uppermost part of. The program has successfully discovered significant sweet gas and condensate reserves in the prekhuff siliciclastics and has further increased our understanding of the paleozoic petroleum system. Principally controlled controlled by the government entity saudi aramco, its presence within the oil industry is significant and it has an influence on the international level. Ghawar, discovered in 1948, was put in production in the 1950s, and is now thought to be producing oil at a rate of 5 million barrels per day. This accumulated knowledge and expertise our upstream strategy. Widespread porosity in shoalingupward carbonate cycles, saudi arabia. Oil and gas is produced from multiple reservoirs covering an area of 7,200 km2. Afifi saudi aramco acknowledgements dave alexander, mohamed ameen, scott. Maps of central arabia and greater ghawar area showing expulsion of oil and gas. Meanwhile, the permian had been set for a decline in. Ghawar is a major oil resource and has a tremendous effect on the current oil and gas industry but it is not the only. The only conventional oilfield worldwide that is definitely producing more oil than the permian basin is saudi arabias mammoth ghawar field. The company believes that the ghawar field is the largest oil field in the world in terms of conventional proved reserves, totalling 58. Without ghawar, their oil production drops sharply.
Known oilfield size and grown oilfield size versus field discovery year for. Although it is a single field, it is divided into six areas. Pdf what do you know about the ghawar oil field, saudi. The ghawar oil field is by far the largest conventional oil field in the world and accounts for more than half of the cumulative oil production of saudi arabia. Discovered in 1948, ghawar is the worlds biggest oil field, stretching 174 miles in length and 16 miles across to encompass 1. The field was discovered in 1948 by a wildcat well at ain dar. Figure 3 of linux clusters driving step changes in interpretation, simulation. Production exceeds almost 5 million barrels per day, with the north of the field around shedgum being the most mature. Ghawar oil is upper jurassic, occurring in the shallowwater carbonate sediments of the upper.
This 2004 paper, selected features of giant fields, using maps and histograms, has a wealth of information on the discovery and depletion of giant oil and gas fields. Trouble in the worlds largest oil fieldghawar resilience. Known oilfield size and grown oilfield size versus field discovery year for horstblock anticlinal oil assessment unit. Ghawar production accounts for over half of annual saudi crude. The first phase of our oil field expansion project raised production to three quarters of a million barrels of highvalue axl crude oil per day, by 2009. Its the biggest conventional field in the worlds biggestproducing country, saudi arabia. The ghawar oil field, saudi arabia the ghawar oil field is by far the largest conventional oil field in the world and accounts for more than half of the cumulative oil production of saudi arabia. Paleozoic prekhuff hydrocarbon geology of the ghawar. Among the many prolific oil fields in the middle east, the giant ghawar field in saudi arabia stands out as the crown jewel. Archives pesa seapex williston basin russia petroleum geology subscription information. A significant proportion of oil production from the ghawar field, saudi arabia originates from dolomitized rocks. Bernstein, a wall streets premier sellside research and brokerage firm, partnered with geoville information systems gmbh to conduct an oilfield performance study in the. However, other news stories have focused on an apparent bombshell around production at the saudi ghawar oilfield, which is the worlds largest conventional onshore oil field.
Shaybah project oil and gas extraction saudi aramco. Is saudi arabia depending too much on the ghawar field. Abqaiq processes crude oil from the ghawar and abqaiq oil fields. Where ghawar goes, the rest of opec follows may 2008 oil reserves in saudi arabia the work of euan mearns and stuart staniford1 has culminated in a new and unprecedented assessment of oil reserves in ghawar, the worlds largest oil field. Saudi arabias ghawar is the worlds largest oil and gas field. Simulated date unknown but believed not later than 2004. Pdf geology and production significance of dolomite. The permian basin is now the worlds top oil producer. Ghawar is, therefore, extremely important to the worlds economy and well being.