American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019 - 46

Saudis Adapt To Growing Iraqi Output
By George Littell
Although the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
is no longer the world's largest oil producer, actions, or inactions, by its government remain critical in determining
oil prices.
Recent actions suggest the Saudis are
willing to accommodate increasing oil
production from Iraq, which is already
the second largest producer among the
members of the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries.

Reduced Iranian production associated
with U.S. sanctions is making it easier to
avoid repeating the dismal history of the
1980s and 1990s.
Geology
Figure 1 is a map of the Arabian
Peninsula, which is the junction of the
continents of Africa and Asia. Until 35
million years ago, the Tethys Seaway
separated the continents. A slow process
of uplifts first created the Midian and Tihama mountain ranges along the coasts

FIGURE 1
Saudi Arabia

of the present Red Sea. The rest of the
peninsula has been "out of the water" for
less than 13 million years.
The roughly 230 million square miles
of the Rub al Khali (also known as the
Empty Quarter) constitute one of the world's
largest deserts. The kingdom's other 643
million square miles are arid wilderness
that resemble the Permian Basin.
Saudi Arabia's oil producing area
lies beneath the peninsula's eastern portion and extends off shore into the
Persian Gulf. It features thick Jurassic
carbonates overlaid by the impermeable
Hith Anhydride. Depths are 5,000-8,000
feet with porosity from 20 to 30 percent
and permeability as high as 0.5 darcy.
Anticlines make up the dominant structural trap. Below the Jurassic at depths
of 12,000-15,000 feet, the tight, Permian-aged Khuff formation produces wet
gas and condensate. Khuff is the producing formation for one of the world's
largest gas reservoirs-North Field offshore Qatar and South Pars, its extension
into Iranian waters.
Governance

TABLE 1
Succession in KSA
Crown Prince

King

Abdul Aziz (ibn Saud)

1932-53

Saud (born 1902)

1953-64

Faisal (born 1904)

1964-75

Khalid (born 1912)

1965-75

1975-82

Fahd (born 1921)

1975-82

1982-05

Abdallah (born 1923)

1982-05

2005-15

Sultan (born 1924)

2005-11

Nayef (born 1933)

2011-12

Salman (born 1936)

2012-15

Miqrin (born 1943)
Muhammed bin Nayef bin Abdul Aziz (MBN)
Muhammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz (MBS)

46 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Proposed
2015-17
2017-

2015-

Thanks in part to its remote location
and harsh climate, the territory that makes
up the kingdom of Saudi Arabia never
became part of the Roman or Persian
empires. For centuries, it was sparsely
populated by nomadic semites. The al
(family of) -Saud immigrated from Oman
in the sixteenth century and settled near
the present city of Riyadh. In 1774, their
emir (commander) became a disciple of
Muhammed bin (son of) Abdul Wahhab.
Wahhab's extreme version of Islam essentially holds that life should adhere to
the social mores and legal code of seventh
century western Arabia.
Abdul Aziz became emir of al-Saud
in 1902. After three decades of warfare
and diplomacy, the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia was formed in 1932. It remains a
monarchy without a constitution-essentially a family business. Governance is
by royal decree, therefore it matters a
great deal who is king. Table 1 is a record
of succession in the kingdom.
In the interest of brevity, Abdul Aziz
usually is referred to as ibn (father of)
Saud. He begat 36 sons and at least 22
daughters with 19 wives. Saud was the
second son of ibn Saud, the first having
died in the flu epidemic of 1919. An alcoholic and spendthrift, Saud was deposed



American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019

Contents
American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019 - Intro
American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019 - 1
American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019 - 2
American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019 - Contents
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