Saudi Aramco plans for unconventional gas boom

摘要

Saudi Arabia will be the next large shale oil producer, state-owned Saudi Aramco chief executive Khalid al-Falih says. The company has spent large amounts on unconventional gas in the far north of the country near the border with Jordan, and expects commercial production from 2016. Unconventional gas output will fuel phosphate mining in the north and enough gas will be produced by 2017 to fuel a 1,000MW power plant (WPA, 21 November, p6). The results of drilling for unconventional gas in the north are “extremely encouraging”, al-Falih says.