Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Crude Oil and Natural Gas Liquids Country Notes

Saudi Arabia

Proved recoverable reserves (crude oil and NGLs, million tonnes)	34 550
Production (crude oil and NGLs, million tonnes, 2005)	526.2
R/P ratio (years)	65.6
Year of first commercial production	1936

Note: Saudi Arabia data include its share of Neutral Zone, together with production from the Abu Safa oilfield (jointly owned with Bahrain).

The Kingdom has been a leading oil producer for more than 40 years and currently has by far the world's largest proven reserves of oil: at end-2005 these represented about 22% of the global total. The first major commercial discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia was the Dammam field, located by Aramco in 1938; in subsequent years the company discovered many giant fields, including Ghawar (1948), generally regarded as the world's largest oil field, and Safaniyah (1951), the world's largest offshore field.

Whilst not displaying an exact consensus, current published assessments of Saudi Arabia's proved oil reserves at end-2005 fall within a narrow bracket: namely (in billions of barrels), World Oil 262.175, BP 264.200, OPEC 264.211, OAPEC (as used in this Survey) 264.310. and Oil & Gas Journal 266.81 (262.300 at end-2006).

Saudi Arabia was a founder member of OPEC and also of OAPEC. It exports about three-quarters of its crude oil output; major destination regions are Asia, North America and Western Europe.