Saudi natural gas reserves on the rise

Saudi Arabia's minister of oil and mineral resources announced on Sunday that the natural gas reserves in the country are assessed at 5,776 Billion cubic meters, recording an increase of 7% in two years.

The official was quoted by the Saudi news agency "SPA" as saying that the reserves of gas associated with oil have on their part reached 1.9 billion cubic meters.

The increase of these reserves is due to new discoveries in the central part of the country, Ali Ben Ibrahim Al-Nouaimi said.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to promote its gas industry to meet the domestic demand for electricity, which increases by 7% per year.

Saudi Arabia harbors the largest crude oil reserves in the world, officially assessed at 261 billion barrels. The country's gas reserves rank fourth in the Middle East after Iran, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.