Saudi Arabia inaugurates major oil field

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz on Wednesday inaugurated the al-Sheiba oil field in the Rubi' al-Khali (Empty Quarter) desert located in southeastern Saudi Arabia, which is considered one of the greatest oil projects in the world.

The importance of the al-Sheba oil field, which was excavated at a cost of US $2.5 billion, lies in the high quality of discovered crude oil of a density of 42 degrees at the scale of the US oil institute and sulfur which does not exceed 7%.

The oil field, which contains the largest oil reserves, was discovered some 30 years ago.

Production at the said project started only in the second half of 1998 at a daily production capacity of 500,000 barrels. Oil reserves in al-Sheba oil field are estimated at more than 14 billion barrels of crude oil and some 25 trillion cubic feet of gas. It is located in the most recent oil area at the Saudi oil company, Aramco.

Actual works to explore the field started in the first quarter of 1996.

Ministers of oil in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman took part in the inauguration ceremony of the oil field.