Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Natural Gas Country Notes

Note:

Most of Saudi Arabia's proved reserves and production of natural gas are in the form of associated gas derived from oil fields, although a number of sources of non-associated gas have been discovered. In total, proved reserves of gas
(6 848 bcm, according to OAPEC) rank as the third largest in the Middle East. Other published sources quote essentially the same level.

Output of natural gas has advanced fairly steadily for more than twenty years. A significant factor in increasing the utilisation of Saudi Arabia's gas resources has been the operation of the gas-processing plants set up under the Master Gas System, which was inaugurated in the mid-1980s. These plants produce large quantities of ethane and LPG, which are used within the country as petrochemical feedstock; a high proportion of LPGs is exported. The main consumers of dry natural gas (apart from the gas industry itself) are power stations, desalination plants and petrochemical complexes.