Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and

Environmental Effects

ISSN: 1556-7036 (Print) 1556-7230 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ueso20

The natural gas potential of Saudi Arabia

Ayhan Demirbas, Hemaid Alsulami & Abdul-Sattar Nizami

To cite this article: Ayhan Demirbas, Hemaid Alsulami & Abdul-Sattar Nizami (2016) The
natural gas potential of Saudi Arabia, Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and
Environmental Effects, 38:18, 2635-2642, DOI: 10.1080/15567036.2015.1070218

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ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
2016, VOL. 38, NO. 18, 2635–2642
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2015.1070218

The natural gas potential of Saudi Arabia

Ayhan Demirbasa, Hemaid Alsulamia, and Abdul-Sattar Nizami b

a
Faculty of Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia;
b
Center of Excellence in Environmental Studies (CEES), King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has the fourth largest natural gas (NG) Gas development; Kingdom
reserves in the world. One third of these reserves are located in the Ghawar of Saudi Arabia (KSA);
region of Eastern Province. NG production is controlled tightly due to close natural gas (NG); power
generation; Saudi gas
conjunction with oil production until recently. KSA’s NG production of 85
initiative (SGI)
billion cubic meters in 2015 from 70 billion cubic meters in 2008 sets an
average annual increase of 2.7%. More than half of the annual KSA’s NG
production has been accompanied by gas. The Saudi Gas Initiative (SGI) aims
to increase foreign investment in the NG development sector through pet-
rochemicals, power generation, and gas development while integrating with
salt water desalination. The barriers in the success of motor fuel policies
include high initial capital costs, lack of information or skills, less market
acceptance, technology limitations, and financing risks. This article aims to
review the potential of NG as an alternative to oil and coal in KSA in meeting
the country’s high energy requirements.

Introduction
Natural gas (NG) has become the world’s fastest-consumed primary energy source over the last few
decades. The annual consumption of NG is estimated to increase at an average rate of 2.8% from
2001 to 2025, in comparison to the annual growth rates of 1.8% and 1.5% for oil and coal,
respectively (Demirbas, 2006). NG is consumed in commercial, transportation, industry, housing,
and electricity generation sectors (Yazici and Demirbas, 2001; Khan and Al-Shehhi, 2015). However,
the overall utilization of NG is smaller than the global market for oil due to transportation cost and
low energy contents (Hacisalihoglu, 2008).
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the world’s largest manufacturer, exporter, and consumer
of the total petroleum liquids and primary energy (Rahman and Khondaker, 2012). In 2013, KSA
was the world’s 12th largest primary energy consumer with the total energy consumption of 9
quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) (US-EIA, 2014).
The KSA’s economy is heavily depending on oil production (Al-Sahlawi, 1997). The country’s
own demand for oil and gas is increasing significantly every year at an average rate of 7%. Oil defines
and dominates the KSA economy (Al-Sahlawi, 1997). Oil and NG represented 23% of real gross
domestic product (GDP), including 91% of government income, and 86% of export earnings in 2010
(Andrews and Playfoot, 2015).
In various countries, more than a million miles of pipelines safely deliver trillions of cubic
feet of petroleum products every year. Therefore, the pipeline systems are the safest means to
move liquid and gaseous fuels (Demirbas, 2010). KSA’s NG demand has increased by 23% from
2010 to 2015, which is further expected to increase by 24.6% till 2020. This article aims to review

CONTACT Ayhan Demirbas ayhandemirbas@hotmail.com Faculty of Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering,

King Abdulaziz University, P.O Box: 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
© 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2636 A. DEMIRBAS ET AL.

the potential of NG as an alternative oil and coal fuel in KSA. The location and applications of
NG in meeting the KSA’s high energy requirements are further evaluated.

Natural gas in the world

Table 1 shows the world proved NG reserves and its annual production and consumption until 2013.
The largest NG producer is Europe and Eurasia, which are also the largest supplier of NG to
European and Eurasian countries. The Middle East is the third largest NG producer and consumer
after North America. The Asia Pacific imports NG to meet their energy demands. The other regions
are relatively minor NG producers and consumers (Demirbas 2006, 2010).
NG can be located anywhere in the world, but the largest reserves are in the former Soviet Union
and the Middle East. Since the 1970s, the discovered world’s NG reserves are increasing each year.
NG reserves by country are given in Table 2.

Chemical composition of natural gas

As shown in Table 3, methane (CH4) is the largest component of the NG’s chemical composi-
tion. It is clear that CH4 represents around 95% of the total volume of NG. Other components
are ethane, propane, butane, pentane, nitrogen, carbon dioxide CO2, water vapor, and traces of
other gases. Moreover, sulfur compounds are present in very small amounts (Demirbas, 2010).
Since CH4 is the largest component of NG, its characteristics are generally used for comparing
NG properties to other conventional fuels (Demirbas, 2006).
Permian Khuff reservoirs on the east coast of KSA and in the Arabian Gulf produce dry sour gas
with extremely variable nitrogen concentrations (Jenden et al., 2015). The Master Gas Gathering
System of Saudi Aramco is an effective step in reducing CH4 emissions from the oil and gas fields
(Rahman and Khondaker, 2012). Water content in NG is estimated based on gas processing, storage,
and transmission. There are several formulas and calculation methods to evaluate the water content
of sweet natural gas separately (Lin et al., 2014).
One of the most important usages of NG is generating electricity, even though the electricity
produced from NG is more costly than using coal due to the increase in fuel prices. This is especially
true for coal-rich and NG-poor nations.
Nowadays, the use of NG in power production is increased as NG is considered the cleanest
alternative to coal and other fossil fuels. Upon combustion, NG emits less CO2 than oil or coal, with
no sulfur dioxide (SO2) and only small amounts of nitrous oxides (NOx). CO2 is a greenhouse gas
(GHG), while sulfur and nitrous oxides (i.e. SOx and NOx) produced by oil and coal combustion
result in acid rain. Both the carbon(C) and hydrogen(H) in CH4 combine with oxygen (O2) during
combustion, giving off heat, CO2, and H2O. Coal and oil contain proportionally more C compared to
NG, therefore releasing CO2.

Table 1. World proved natural gas reserves and annual production and consumption at end 2013.
Proved reserve Production Consumption
Trillion cubic metres (tcm) Billion cubic meters (bcm) Billion cubic meters (bcm)
Middle East 80.3 568.2 428.3
Europe & Eurasia 56.6 1032.9 1064.7
Asia Pacific 15.2 489.0 639.2
Africa 14.2 204.3 123.3
North America 11.7 899.1 923.5
S. & C. America 7.7 176.4 168.6
Total world 185.7 3369.9 3347.6
Source: Demirbas 2006, 2010.
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 2637

Table 2. World natural gas reserves by country (trillion cubic meter).

Russia 47.57 Pakistan 0.071
Iran 23.00 India 0.065
Qatar 14.40 Yugoslavia 0.048
Saudi Arabia 6.22 Yemen 0.048
United Arab Emirates 6.00 Brunei 0.039
United States 5.20 Hungary 0.037
Algeria 4.50 Thailand 0.036
Venezuela 4.18 Papua New Guinea 0.035
Nigeria 3.50 Croatia 0.034
Iraq 3.10 Bangladesh 0.030
Turkmenistan 2.86 Burma 0.028
Australia 2.55 Austria 0.025
Uzbekistan 1.88 Syria 0.024
Kazakhstan 1.84 Ireland 0.020
Netherlands 1.77 Vietnam 0.019
Canada 1.69 Slovakia 0.014
Kuwait 1.69 Mozambique 0.013
Norway 1.25 France 0.011
Ukraine 1.12 Cameroon 0.011
Mexico 0.84 Philippines 0.010
Oman 0.82 Afghanistan 0.010
Argentina 0.78 Turkey 0.009
United Kingdom 0.74 Congo 0.009
Bolivia 0.68 Sudan 0.009
Trinidad and Tobago 0.67 Tunisia 0.008
Germany 0.34 Taiwan 0.008
Indonesia 0.26 Namibia 0.006
Peru 0.25 Rwanda 0.006
Italy 0.23 New Zealand 0.006
Brazil 0.22 Bulgaria 0.006
Malaysia 0.21 Israel 0.004
Poland 0.14 Angola 0.004
China 0.14 Equatorial Guinea 0.004
Libya 0.13 Japan 0.004
Azerbaijan 0.13 Ivory Coat 0.003
Colombia 0.12 Ethiopia 0.003
Ecuador 0.11 Gabon 0.003
Romania 0.10 Ghana 0.003
Egypt 0.10 Czech Republic 0.003
Chile 0.099 Guatemala 0.003
Bahrain 0.091 Albania 0.003
Denmark 0.076 Tanzania 0.002
Cuba 0.071
Source: Demirbas 2006, 2010.

Table 3. Chemical composition of NG.

Component volume) Typical analysis (% by volume) Range (% by
Methane 94.9 87.0–96.0
Ethane 2.5 1.8–5.1
Propane 0.2 0.1–1.5
iso – Butane 0.03 0.01–0.3
normal – Butane 0.03 0.01–0.3
iso – Pentane 0.01 trace–0.14
normal – Pentane 0.01 trace–0.14
Hexanes plus 0.01 trace–0.06
Nitrogen 1.6 1.3–5.6
Carbon Dioxide 0.7 0.1–1.0
Oxygen 0.02 0.01–0.1
Hydrogen trace trace–0.02
Source: Demirbas 2006, 2010.
2638 A. DEMIRBAS ET AL.

In the future, concerns about acid rain, urban air pollution, and global warming likely will
motivate the usage of NG instead of coal and oil. The burns of NG are clean than gasoline or diesel,
as it produces fewer NOx, unburned hydrocarbons, and particulates (Demirbas, 2006). To use the
NG in running vehicles, a large storage tank is needed (Demirbas, 2010).

Evironmental consideration
Combustion of NG is clean and emits less CO2 than all other oil derivatives, which makes it
favorable in terms of GHG emission savings Global warming has been increasing gradually due to
CO2 emissions. The gases with higher heat capacities than those of O2 and N2 cause the GHG
phenomenon.
CH4 þ 2O2 ! CO2 þ 2H2 O (1)

1:00 g 2:75 g
2C4 H10 þ 13O2 ! 8CO2 þ 10H2 O (2)

1:00 g 3:03 g
C þ O2 ! CO2 (3)
1:00 g 3:66 g
As shown in Eq. (1), NG is the lowest accountable for CO2 emissions among the fossil fuels. It is clear that
NG is the cleanest fossil-based fuel. While liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) causes higher CO2 emissions
than that of NG (Eq. 2). Collectively, the highest amount of CO2 appears according to Eq. (3) (Demirbas,
2006). Therefore, accountability of fossil fuels for global warming increases with increasing its carbon
number. Moreover, the overall CO2 emissions can be decreased by biomass combustion since it is a CO2
neutral fuel source (Demirbas, 2010).
The combustion of NG is the lowest among carbon intensive fossil fuels (Davies, 2001), thus
reducing the pollution in comparison with other conventional fossil fuels. Exhaust emissions from
natural gas vehicles (NGVs) are much lower than gasoline-powered vehicles. For example, NGV
emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) is around 70% lower, non-methane organic gas emissions are
89% lower, and NOx are 87% lower (Demirbas, 2010). In addition to the reduction in pollutants,
NGVs also emit lower amounts of GHGs and toxins in comparison with gasoline vehicles. Dedicated
NGVs produce little or no evaporative emissions during fueling in comparison with gasoline
vehicles, where they account for at least 50% of a vehicle’s total hydrocarbon emissions. Dedicated
NGVs can also reduce CO2 exhaust emissions by almost 20%. Diesel exhaust is under review as a
hazardous air pollutant (Demirbas, 2010). NG’sexcellent effect on environmental pollution needs to
be dealt with carefully and economically (Demirbas, 2006). Integrated development and efforts to
reduce GHG emissions by the public and private sector is essential for the implementation of
appropriate strategies in KSA (Rahman and Khondaker, 2012; Nizami et al., 2016; Nizami et al.,
2015a,b; Ouda et al., 2016).

NG potential and production in Saudi Arabia

KSA’s estimated NG reserves are 6.22 trillion cubic meters (tcm), which placed the country at
number four in the world, after Russia, Iran, and Qatar for the total NG reserves (IEA, 2010).
Around 60% of KSA’s current NG reserves consist of associated gas, mainly from the onshore
Ghawar field and the offshore Safaniya and Zuluf fields (WN, 2005). One third of these reserves are
located in the Ghawar. NG production is controlled tightly due to close conjunction with oil
production until recently (WN, 2005).
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 2639

Most new NG reserves were discovered in the 1990s, which contain light crude oil, especially in
the Najd region (south of Riyadh). Most of KSA’s non-associated gas reserves are located in the deep
Khuff reservoir, which underlies the Ghawar oil field (WN, 2005):
Mazalij
Al-Manjoura
Shaden
Niban
Tinat
Al-Waar, etc.
NG is also located in Midyan (extreme northwest) and in the Rub al Khali (country’s southeastern
desert). NG from 23 wells at the Fazran located near Dhahran was discovered (WN, 2005).
Another big NG area called Durra (sea Saudi, Kuwait Divided Zone) is located near the Khafji oil
field. Un-demarcated maritime border between Kuwait and Iran remains, but KSA and Kuwait
agreed in July 2000 to share Durra equally (WN, 2005). Saudi Aramco has discovered a new gas field
in the Eastern Province; the wall is known as Zamlah-1 (WN, 2005).
The Saudi Gas Initiative (SGI) aims to increase foreign investment in NG sector development in
petrochemicals, power generation, and gas development while integrating with salt water desalina-
tion. The SGI has been seen as the key player to the whole foreign investment strategy. After the
cancellation of SGI, KSA earlier offered a better rate of return for smaller and more focused projects
of the contract. At the same time, KSA has moved away from the integrated upstream/downstream
gas, water, electricity, and petrochemical nature of the SGI (WN, 2005).
Currently, non-associated NG production in KSA comes from the Khuff area beneath the Ghawar
and the Abqaiq oil fields, while the accompanied gas is obtained mainly from the Ghawar area, but
also from the Safaniya, Zuluf, and Abqaiq fields (IEA, 2010).

KSA gas initiative

In October 2002, construction giant Ghawar close to oil fields in southern Dhahran and Riyadh
Hawiyah spent $4 billion in completing a non-associated gas processing plant (WN, 2005). Hawiyah,
with more than 10 years, represents the largest Saudi NG project and the first deep Jauf and Khuff
reservoirs to handle only non-associated gas. On November 15, 2003, KSA reached total agreement
with Royal Dutch/Shell and Total on Blocks 5-9 and 82-85 in the Shaybah and Kidan fields of the
Empty Quarter region (WN, 2005).
In March 2005, Saudi Aramco invited bids to expand Hawiyah to obtain additional petrochemical
feedstock and primarily natural gas liquids (NGLs) from NG. NGL are naturally occurring compo-
nents found in NG including ethane, propane and butane, among other valuables. Hawiyah and
Foster Wheeler spent $2 billion in building a new NG processing plant at Haradh, which was
completed in the 2004 summer. Haradh processes are not associated with NG (both sweet and sour)
from the four areas in the Khuff formation (WN, 2005).
KSA is the biggest exporter of LPG in the world. The LPG was exported to Japan until the 1970s.
The refinery LPG exports to Ras Tanura, which began in 1961. KSA’s NG production of 85 billion
cubic meters in 2015 from 70 billion cubic meters in 2008, set an average annual increase rate of
2.7%. More than half of the annual KSA’s NG production so far has been accompanied gas (IEA,
2010).
The NGL plants are the older Berri, Shedgum, Utmaniyah, and Abqaiq plants, and the Haradh,
Hawiyah, and Khursaniyah plants that have recently added capacity (IEA, 2010). Those plants are
the Ju’aymah plant and the Yanbu plant, which are being expanded. The Ju’aymah plant is located
in the Arabian Gulf, while Yanbu plant is located on the Red Sea. An NGL pipeline connects the
two NGL centers (IEA, 2010).
The NGL plants old Berri, Shedgum, Utmaniyah, and Abqaiq plants have added capacity Haradh,
Hawiyah and Khursaniyah plants. These plants Ju’aymah plant are being expanded and Yanbu
2640 A. DEMIRBAS ET AL.

plants. Yanbu plants are located in the west region of Saudi Arabia while the Ju’aymah plant is
located in the east region. Both plants are connected by pipelines.
NGLs in KSA will grow more than two thirds of the Hawiyah NGL project. Manifa area, Karan
non-associated gas area, and Arabiyah and Hasbah areas handled both gas and condensate rich gas
stream by the end of 2013, while the Khursaniyah NGL plant is going to develop.

Gasoline, diesel fuel, LPG Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), and Natural Gas Liquid (NGL)
There are mainly five petroleum-based motor fuels; gasoline, diesel fuel, LPG, CNG, and NGL. Gasoline
is the most popular product derived from petroleum and constitutes the largest fraction obtained per
barrel of crude oil (Demirbas 2006). The hydrocarbons in gasoline have a chain length of 4 to 12
carbons. Diesel fuel in general is any liquid fuel used in diesel engines, whose fuel ignition takes place
without spark as a result of compression of the inlet air mixture and then injection of fuels. Diesel fuel
consists of hydrocarbons of a chain length between 8 and 21 carbon atoms. Diesel has higher energy
content per volume than gasoline (Demirbas et al., 2016).
The gaseous fuels like hydrogen, LPG, CNG, or liquefied natural gas (LNG) can be used for
vehicles (Kuwahara et al., 2000; Shahad and Mohammed, 2000). The total energy stored of gaseous
fuels per unit volume is less than the liquid fuels (van Ling, 1992; Heaton and van der Weide, 1993;
Ergeneman et al., 1999). LPG is a mixture of gases produced commercially from petroleum and
stored under pressure to keep it in a liquid state. The boiling point of LPG varies from 229 K to 273
K, thus the pressure required to liquefy it is considerable and its container must be of heavy steel
(Demirbas, 2010).
Ventilation must be provided in CNG vehicle maintenance garages and vehicle storage buildings
through ceiling exhaust systems to prevent hazardous CNG accumulations (Balat, 2005). In vehicle
operation, as the pressure regulators reduce CNG pressure, the temperature will drop, causing water
vapor in the NG to condense (Balat, 2005). CNG vehicle fueling stations normally dehydrate the NG to
prevent water condensation. CO and NOx emissions are decreased 50% and 25% with LPG use instead
of gasoline, respectively (Demirbas, 2002). CNG also has much lower environmental impact than other
hydrocarbon fuels, when the process of its production in the fields till filling of the vehicle tanks is taken
into account.
The production, processing, transportation, and compression of NG to CNG fuel that is used by
vehicles result in less environmental impact than the production, transportation, and processing of
crude oil and the transportation of gasoline or diesel to the service stations (Balat, 2005; Rathore et
al., 2016). KSA consumed 2.9 million barrels of oil per day (bbl/d) in 2013, almost double the
consumption in 2000, because of strong industrial growth and subsidized oil prices (Alshehry and
Belloumi, 2015). KSA is the world’s sixth-largest oil consumer, which consumes a quarter of oil from
its own production. KSA’s domestic energy consumption currently relies exclusively on oil and NG.
Oil contributed 130 million tons oil equivalent (mtoe) and contributed 93 mtoe in 2012 (BP, 2013).
Foreign Affairs recently noted that KSA could consume more oil than it exports by the late 2020s.
Optimization is the act of obtaining the best result under given circumstances. Practice of
optimization is limited by the lack of detailed information, and the lack of time to evaluate what
information is required (Demirbas et al., 2016). The residential sector of KSA consumes 50% of the
total generated electricity with an annual increase rate of 8% (Farnoosh et al., 2014). Fossil fuels are
the main source of electricity production (74%). The current energy generating capacity of KSA is 55
GW, which government planned to increase upto 120 GW till 2032 (Royal Decree, 2010). The
combination of solar and gas extent can meet KSA future electricity demand. The economics of solar
energy, wind, and nuclear power are not favorable in comparison with NG, even though KSA has
significantly increased the low domestic gas prices (Ahmad and Ramana, 2014).
Economic diversification is important to create sustainable economic growth. Moreover, eco-
nomic diversification contributes positively to job creation. The KSA government, after every five
years, issued 10 development plans since 1970 as a part of economic diversification plan (Albassam,
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 2641

2015). KSA’s fuel consumption without increasing the price for final consumers and energy systems
should be explored in depth to reduce the overall fuel costs (Matar et al., 2015; Aburas, 2015).

Conclusion
KSA is the world’s largest crude oil exporter and has the fourth-largest NG reserves in the world.
KSA’s support of its NG industry to meet its growing energy demand and energy production and is
the preferred fuel for the removal of salt from water. These new industries will create new jobs in
KSA. So, NG is a key part of the long-term development and prosperity of KSA.
The KSA is the biggest exporter of LPG in the world. The government has developed an energy
policy that aims for diversifying energy sources and suppliers and attracting the private sector. As a
result, the government has developed and implemented several energy efficiency projects, aiming to
increase energy efficiency in industry, transport and residential sectors.
The new motor fuel policies and barriers include aid for conventional forms of motor fuel, high
capital costs, weak capital markets, missing information or skills, less market acceptance, technology
limitations, financing risks and uncertainties, and a range of regulatory and institutional factors.

ORCID
Abdul-Sattar Nizami http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3294-9256

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