Deep-Water Knowledge Will Be Key To Saudi Aramco’s Red Sea Play

The fast tracking of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's (KSA) first major offshore natural gas fields in the Red Sea heralds the start of a massive new energy programme for the Kingdom, which will ultimately create new commercial opportunities for service companies with deep-water experience.

State oil company Saudi Aramco has announced $25 billion of capital expenditure to develop oil and gas reserves lying in deep water in the Red Sea, following the discovery of the Ahmar-1 field of non-associated gas approximately 24 kilometres north-west of Duba in the Tabuk Province on the west coast of the Kingdom.

A major gas processing facility and a large power plant are scheduled for construction in Duba, which will become the apex of a pipeline network to carry gas south to industrial cities along the Red Sea coast.