Ghawar Field

Ghawar occupies an anticline above a basement fault block dating to Carboniferous time, about 320{{nbsp}}million years ago; Cretaceous tectonic activity, as the northeast margin of Africa began to impinge on southwest Asia, enhanced the structure. Reservoir rocks are Jurassic Arab-D limestones with exceptional porosity (as much as 35 % of the rock in places), which is about {{convert|280|ft|m}} thick and occurs {{convert|6,000|to|7,000|ft|m}} beneath the surface. Source rock is the Jurassic Hanifa formation, a marine shelf deposit of mud and lime with as much as 5 % organic material, it is estimated that 1 % to 7 % is considered good oil source rock. The seal is an evaporitic package of rocks including impermeable anhydrite.{{cite web |url=https://explorer.aapg.org/story?articleid=2185 |title=Finding Ghawar: Elephant Hid in Desert |author=Rasoul Sorkhab |work=AAPG Explorer |date=June 2011}}

In the early 1940s, Max Steineke, Thomas Barger and Ernie Berg noted a bend in the Wadi Al-Sahbah dry riverbed. Measurements confirmed that the area had undergone geologic uplift, an indication that an oil reservoir may be trapped underneath. Oil was indeed found, in what turned out to be the southern reaches of Ghawar.{{cite book |author=Ali Al-Naimi |title=Out of the Desert |date=2016 |publisher=Portfolio Penguin |location=Great Britain |isbn=9780241279250 |pages=20}}

Historically, Ghawar has been subdivided into five production areas, from north to south: 'Ain Dar and Shedgum, 'Uthmaniyah, Hawiyah and Haradh. The major oasis of Al-Ahsa and the city of Al-Hofuf are located on Ghawar's east flank, corresponding to the 'Uthmaniyah production area. Ghawar was discovered in 1948 and put on stream in 1951.{{cite web |url=https://explorer.aapg.org/story/articleid/40740/the-elephant-of-all-elephants |title=The Elephant of All Elephants |work=AAPG Explorer |date=January 2005 |author=Louise Durham |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060302145331/http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2005/01jan/ghawar.cfm |archive-date=March 2, 2006 }}{{cite news|url=http://www.energybulletin.net/1269.html|title=Trouble in the World's Largest Oil Field-Ghawar|publisher=Energy Bulletin|date=24 July 2004 |author=Glenn Morton|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003010442/http://www.resilience.org/stories/2004-07-29/trouble-worlds-largest-oil-field-ghawar|archive-date=3 October 2016

}} Some sources claim that Ghawar peaked in 2005, though this is denied by the field operators.{{cite news|url=http://www.energybulletin.net/5065.html

|date=31 March 2005|title=Has Ghawar truly peaked?|author=Donald Coxe|archive-date=1 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301190142/http://www.resilience.org/stories/2005-04-01/has-ghawar-truly-peaked/}}{{cite news |title=Bank says Saudi's top field in decline |author=Adam Porter |work=English Al-Jazeera |date=April 12, 2005 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2005/4/12/bank-says-saudis-top-field-in-decline |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813190446/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/08B97BCF-7BE6-4F1D-A846-7ACB9B0F8894.htm |archive-date=2006-08-13 }}

Saudi Aramco reported in mid-2008 that Ghawar had produced 48% of its proven reserves.{{cite web|url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Saudi_Arabia/Oil.html|date=2008-08-01|title=Saudi Arabia Energy Data, Statistics and Analysis - Oil, Gas, Electricity, Coal|website=Energy Information Agency|publisher=US Department of Energy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913234543/http://www.eia.doe.gov:80/emeu/cabs/Saudi_Arabia/Oil.html|archive-date=13 September 2008}}

Approximately 60–65% of all Saudi oil produced between 1948 and 2000, came from Ghawar. Cumulative extraction of petroleum through early 2010, has exceeded {{convert|65|Goilbbl|m3|lk=in}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.gregcroft.com/ghawar.ivnu |title=The Ghawar Oil Field, Saudi Arabia |publisher=Gregcroft.com |access-date=2013-04-15 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304202330/http://www.gregcroft.com/ghawar.ivnu |url-status=dead }} In 2009, it was estimated that Ghawar produced about {{convert|5|Moilbbl|m3}} of oil a day (6.25% of global production),{{cite magazine |url=http://www.geoexpro.com/article/The_King_of_Giant_Fields/d311f583.aspx |title=The King of Giant Fields |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200816221552/https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2010/04/the-king-of-giant-fields |archive-date=2020-08-16 |author=Rasoul Sorkhab |magazine=GeoExPro |issue=4 |volume=7 |date=2010}} a figure which was later shown to be substantially overestimated.

As of 31 December 2018, total reserves of {{convert|58.32|Goilbbl|m3}} of oil equivalent including {{convert|48.25|Goilbbl|m3}} barrels of liquid reserves have been confirmed by Saudi Aramco. Average daily extraction was {{convert|3.8|Moilbbl|m3}} per day.

Ghawar also produces approximately {{convert|2|Gcuft|m3}} of natural gas per day.{{cite web |title=Top Ten Highest Producing Oil Fields |url=http://oilpatchasia.com/2013/10/top-ten-highest-producing-oil-fields/|publisher=Oil Patch Asia |date=3 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102203244/http://oilpatchasia.com/2013/10/top-ten-highest-producing-oil-fields/ |archive-date=2 January 2014}}

The operators stimulate production by waterflooding, using seawater at a rate said to be around {{convert|7|Moilbbl|m3}} per day.{{cite web |url=http://globalresourcesnews.com/channel-Ghawar |title=Saudi Arabia's Giant Ghawar Oil Field |website=Global Resources News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211060419/http://globalresourcesnews.com/channel-Ghawar |archive-date=11 December 2014}}{{Cite web |title=Ghawar Oil Field - Hydrocarbons Technology |url=https://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/projects/ghawar-oil-field/#:~:text=Technologies%20employed%20at%20the%20Ghawar%20field&text=The%20field%27s%20current%20extensive%20injection,Persian%20Gulf%20seawater%20per%20day. |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=www.hydrocarbons-technology.com}} Water flooding is said to have begun in 1965.{{cite web |url=http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/ghawar-oil-field/3101 |title=Ghawar Oil Field: Saudi Arabia's Oil Future |website=Energy and Capital |author=Justin Williams |date=19 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331234435/http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/ghawar-oil-field/3101 |archive-date=31 March 2016}} The water cut was about 32% in 2003, and ranged from about 27% to 38% from 1993 to 2003.A.M. Afifi, 2004 AAPG Distinguished Lecture, chart reproduced in {{harvp|Rasoul Sorkhab|2010}}. By 2006, North Uthmaniyah's water cut was about 46%.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/04/13/peak-oil-isnt-dead-an-interview-with-chris-nelder/ |title=Peak oil isn't dead: An interview with Chris Nelder |author=Brad Plumer |newspaper=Washington Post |date=13 April 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.theoildrum.com/node/9263 |title=Tech Talk - Current Oil Production and the Future of Ghawar |website=The Oil Drum |date=18 June 2012}}

Taking the {{convert|1.9e8|t}} production figure per year and the conventional energy density of crude oil (per the definition of the ton of oil equivalent) of 41.868 MJ/kg (5275.3 Wh/lb)) the total thermal energy equivalent produced yearly by the oil field is roughly 7.955 EJ or 2.21 PWh of thermal energy equivalent.

For comparison,

• North Antelope Rochelle Mine, the largest coal mine in the world, produced 85.3 Mt of coal in 2019 (down from over 100 Mt in 2015) at 1.746 EJ or 485 TWh of thermal energy equivalent.

• McArthur River uranium mine, the largest uranium mine in the world, produced 7.3 Mt (16.1 Mio lb) of yellowcake in fiscal 2017, equivalent to roughly 6.2 kt of uranium metal or 4.46 EJ (1240 TWh) of thermal energy at a burnup of 200 MWh/kg achievable in CANDU-type reactors, but much less in more widespread reactor designs.

• The largest solar farm in the world, Bhadla solar park in India, covering 57 km² and boasting a nameplate capacity of 2255 MW would produce 17.778 PJ or 4938 GWh of electricity per year.

• The largest wind farm as of 2021, Gansu Wind Farm in China has a nameplate capacity approaching 8 GW with plans to ramp up to 20 GW.{{cite web | url=https://earthandhuman.org/world-largest-wind-farms/ | title=Top 10 Largest Wind Farms in the World - Earth and Human | date=13 September 2021 }} A 20 GW power plant at 100 % capacity factor could deliver {{convert|630.7|PJ}} of electric output per year. However, once again due to the weather-dependency and intermittency of wind power, capacity factors for onshore wind installations like Gansu are typically much lower, ranging at 15-35% depending on local factors. 250000 standard tons of coal will be replaced per year at full deployment, which is equivalent to 7327 TJ (2035 GWh).{{cite web | url=https://earthandhuman.org/world-largest-wind-farms/ | title=Top 10 Largest Wind Farms in the World - Earth and Human | date=13 September 2021 }}

The Ghawar oil field is thus the largest single supplier of primary energy on Earth.

In April 2010, Saad al-Tureiki, Vice-President for Operations at Aramco, stated, in a news conference reported in Saudi media, that over {{convert|65|Goilbbl|km3}} have been produced from the field since 1951. Tureiki further stated that the total reserves of the field had originally exceeded {{convert|100|Goilbbl|km3}}.{{cite news

|url=http://www.alyaum.com/issue/article.php?IN=13447&I=750340

|title=أرامكو: "الغوار" ما زال قويا بـ"100" مليار برميل

|trans-title=Aramco: "Ghawar" is still strong with "100" billion barrels

|language=ar

|year=2010

|access-date=2010-04-10

|archive-date=2020-10-04

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004085807/https://www.alyaum.com/issue/article.php?IN=13447&I=750340

|url-status=dead

}}

The International Energy Agency in its 2008 World Energy Outlook stated that the oil production from Ghawar reached 66 Bbo in 2007, and that the remaining reserves are 74 Bbo.

Matthew Simmons, in his 2005 book Twilight in the Desert, suggested that production from the Ghawar field and Saudi Arabia may soon peak.{{cite book

| author = Matthew Simmons

| author-link = Matthew Simmons

| title = Twilight in the Desert - The coming Saudi oil shock and the world economy.

| year = 2005

| publisher = John Wiley & Sons

| location = Hoboken, NJ

| isbn = 0-471-73876-X

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/twilightindesert00simm_0

}}

When appraised in the 1970s, the field was assessed to have {{convert|170|Goilbbl|km3}} of original oil in place (OOIP), with about {{convert|60|Goilbbl|km3}} recoverable (1975 Aramco estimate quoted by Matt Simmons). The second figure, at least, was understated since that production figure has already been exceeded.

{{Portal|Saudi Arabia|Energy}}

• Udhailiyah, residential compound built atop the central part of Ghawar
• Khurais oil field
• List of oil fields
• Peak oil
• Swing producer

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal |author=Arabian American Oil Company Staff |title=Ghawar Oil Field, Saudi Arabia |journal=Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists |volume=43 |issue=2 |date=February 1959 |pages=434–454 |doi=10.1306/0BDA5CB1-16BD-11D7-8645000102C1865D}} Still the basic public reference for Ghawar geology.

• [http://www.theoildrum.com/tag/ghawar Articles on Ghawar and analysis on its reserves] from The Oil Drum
• [http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2004/05/journal_oil_con.html Terrorists and Ghawar]
• {{Official website|http://www.saudiaramco.com/|Saudi Aramco official website}} (source of most data in this article).

:*[http://www.saudiaramco.com/content/dam/Publications/Dimensions%20international/Dimensions%20Fall%202008/GhawarFall08.pdf World-beater Ghawar a field apart] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304231845/http://www.saudiaramco.com/content/dam/Publications/Dimensions%20international/Dimensions%20Fall%202008/GhawarFall08.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }}, 2008 article in Saudi Aramco Dimensions magazine

• [http://www.oilandgasinfrastructure.com/home/oilandgasmiddleeast/saudi-arabia Map of oil and gas infrastructure in Saudi Arabia]

Category:Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Category:Oil fields of Saudi Arabia

Category:Saudi Aramco oil and gas fields

Category:Oil field disputes