The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi has visited some oil installations in Tabuk region. The visit included Saudi Aramco Port for the operations of exploration that has been newly established in collaboration with the Port Authority within the port of Dhiba, and Dhiba station for the storage and distribution of petroleum products in Tabuk region. During the visit, he was briefed on one of the stations of exploration and drilling in the deep waters of the Red Sea. The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), "The region of Tabuk, including marine areas within the territorial waters of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has strong and clear signs and indicators in terms of containment of commercial quantities of oil and natural gas. We have discovered gas in commercial quantities in Madyan Well , and doubled reserves existing in this well recently. Madyan field is now being developed to supply natural gas to power plants in the region. " Al-Naimi added, "Gas was discovered late last year in Sho'or Well (1) in the waters of the Red Sea, and additional drilling operations will be conducted soon to determine the area of the well and its boundaries. Saudi Aramco is now drilling in two new wells, the first is Harid Well, northwest of the city of Dhiba located in the shallow waters of the Red Sea, and the second is Dhiba Well, opposite to the city of Dhiba". He said, "Saudi Aramco began for the first time in its history that extends to eighty years using a sophisticated drillship, designed to work in deep water to search for oil and gas in the Red Sea. It is a sophisticated ship, employing a large number of engineers and young Saudis." He said "The results of geological surveys of the area, and the wells that have been drilled so far, where we started a few years ago, are most promising for the Tabuk region and the west of the Kingdom in general. Despite my optimism of the large potentials of the oil, natural gas, and shale gas in many parts of the Kingdom, it should be reminded that the exploration and development of oil and gas take a long time. " --More
