Oil & Gas

The Safaniya field in Saudi Arabia is the largest offshore oil field globally, discovered in a submerged area. The Kingdom aims to develop it further through new deals to increase production as part of efforts to support its economy.

Saudi Aramco recently announced that the Safaniya field is close to finalizing two major deals worth about $5 billion to boost production. The company is in the final stages of selecting contractors for the necessary infrastructure to expand the field.

The Safaniya field currently produces around 1.3 million barrels per day, with plans to increase this to about 2 million barrels per day. Development efforts will require the construction of multiple collection platforms, wellhead platforms, water injection platforms, and an offshore accommodation facility.

Located about 200 kilometers north of Dhahran, the Safaniya field was named after the city of Safaniya near the Arabian Gulf. It has been the center of crude oil production in Saudi Arabia since 1957 and holds an estimated 15 billion barrels of heavy oil reserves.

Exploration in the field began in 1939, with the first commercial oil flow occurring on August 15, 1951. Actual production began in mid-April 1957, with initial production at 50,000 barrels per day, eventually rising to 350,000 barrels per day by early 1962 from 25 wells.

The Safaniya field remains a significant contributor to the global energy mix, with its crude oil production playing a crucial role in Western Europe's energy supply, accounting for 22% of the region's total.