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Petroleum industry

Ghawar: The Largest Oil Field in the World

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Ghawar, discovered in 1948, is the largest axis of fields in the world and the main producer of Arab Light in Saudi Arabia. The field is 250 km long and 15 km wide, containing numerous oil and gas fields, with Ghawar's proven recoverable oil reserves exceeding 70 billion barrels. The oil in place is over 300 billion barrels, with a substantial portion in older Jurassic limestone members. The field's production capacity is currently being boosted through the development of Khuff and pre-Khuff gas reserves, which are expected to raise gas production capacity to almost 9,000 MCF/day by 2005.

Key Takeaways:

  • Ghawar is the largest oil field in the world, discovered in 1948, and the main producer of Arab Light in Saudi Arabia.
  • The field is 250 km long and 15 km wide, containing numerous oil and gas fields, with eight major oil producers and huge gas reservoirs in a Khuff reservoir.
  • Ghawar's proven recoverable oil reserves exceed 70 billion barrels, with oil in place of over 300 billion barrels.
  • The bulk of Ghawar's current oil production occurs in limestones of the Jurassic Arab A, B, C, and D units, mostly at a depth of 6,920 feet.
  • The main oil-producing Ghawar fields are, from north to south: Ain Dar, Shedgum, Uthmaniyah, Farzan, Ghawar, Al Udayliyah, Hawiyah, and Haradh.
  • The installed capacity of these fields is 5.3 million barrels per day (b/d), with most of the heavier oil production streams having been mothballed.
  • Ghawar has the potential to produce 4 million b/d, but the reservoir was damaged, necessitating the use of EOR facilities.
  • Extensive EOR facilities will be required for Haradh in the coming years, and some of the older fields like Ain Dar have begun to decline.
  • The development of Khuff and pre-Khuff gas reserves is boosting gas production capacity, with a major part involving non-associated gas.
  • The average cost of producing associated gas at the well-head is 20 cents/m BTU, with costs up to local buyers' receiving end exceeding 65 cents/m BTU.

Statistics:

  • Ghawar's proven recoverable oil reserves exceed 70 billion barrels.
  • Oil in place is over 300 billion barrels.
  • The field is 250 km long and 15 km wide.
  • The installed capacity of the main oil-producing Ghawar fields is 5.3 million b/d.
  • Ghawar has the potential to produce 4 million b/d.
  • The average cost of producing associated gas at the well-head is 20 cents/m BTU.
  • Costs up to local buyers' receiving end exceed 65 cents/m BTU.
  • The price of gas supplied to Saudi-based industries has been raised from 50 cents to 75 cents/m BTU as from the beginning of 1998.
  • The well-head cost of producing non-associated gas is higher than 20 cents/m BTU.

Sources:

  • Discovered in 1948 by the then US-owned Aramco (Chevron, Texaco, Exxon & Mobil)
  • Exxon, which found the first Ghawar structure at Ain Dar in 1948, having joined Aramco in 1947
  • A $2 bn, 1,440 MCF/d gas processing plant being built at Hawiyah (Source: "Hawiyah-200 exploratory well")
  • A 300,000 b/d GOSP expansion at Haradh completed in late 1995 (Source: "Ghawar fields are now producing well below capacity")
  • A second 300,000 b/d GOSP will raise the field's capacity to 600,000 b/d by 2003 (Source: "Ghawar fields are now producing well below capacity")
  • A $2 bn, 1,400 MCF/d gas processing plant at Haradh, the 5th, will raise capacity of the MGS to almost 9,000 MCF/day by 2005 (Source: "Ghawar fields are now producing well below capacity")

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