Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Sunday announced the discovery of two new gas fields in the Eastern Province and the Empty Quarter respectively.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Energy stated that Saudi Arabian Oil Co., also known as Saudi Aramco, made the first discovery at the Hanifa reservoir in the Al-Hiran-1 well. It said the field was discovered after gas flowed at a rate of 30 million standard cubic feet per day from the said reservoir, along with 1,600 barrels of condensate, and gas flowed at a rate of 3.1 million scf per day from the Arab-C reservoir in the same field.

The second discovery was made at the Al-Mahakek-2 well where natural gas flowed at 0.85 million scf per day.

Natural gas was also discovered in five other reservoirs in previously discovered fields which includes the Jalla reservoir in the Assekra field where gas flowed at a rate of 46 million scf per day.

Unaizah-A reservoir located in the Shadoun field also witnessed a natural gas flow of 15.5 million scf per day, while gas gushed at a rate of million scf per day in the Mazalij field in the Unaizah B/C reservoir in southwest Dhahran.

According to the ministry report, reservoirs were also detected in the Al-Sara field and Al-Wadihi field, where natural gas flowed at a rate of 11.7 million and 5.1 million scf per day respectively.

The discovery of natural gas reservoirs is expected to complement Aramco’s strategic plan to increase gas production by over 50 percent from 2021 levels, with the goal of meeting domestic demand by 2030.

Earlier this month, Saudi Aramco began the production of unconventional tight gas from its South Ghawar operational area, two months ahead of its schedule.

Unconventional tight gas, also known as shale gas, is typically found in reserves where hydrocarbons are tightly trapped within rock layers. Extracting this gas demands specialized techniques like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing for extraction.

The commissioned facilities at South Ghawar currently have a processing capacity of 300 million standard cubic feet per day for raw gas and 38,000 barrels per day for condensate.