Saudi Aramco in early phase of Red Sea exploration program

After decades spent focusing exploration efforts primarily on the oil-rich Eastern province, Saudi Aramco has broadened its search to include previously overlooked parts of the kingdom, including prospective structures in the Red Sea.

"We are at the highest level of exploration ever, covering

The Red Sea has seen little exploration over the past decades, as previous Aramco management believed more prospective oil and gas targets lay on- and offshore Eastern province--for now the region responsible for all of the kingdom's production.

But in 2006, Aramco established the Red Sea Exploration Team, which has acquired 22,000 kilometers of 2-D seismic and 200,000 square kmof gravity and magnetics data, the publication said. The company stepped up its seismic activities in the Red Sea last year.

"In fact, exploring in the Red Sea is just like going to another country. It is a vastly different area for us," al-Hauwaj said.

Compared to the relatively shallow Mideast Gulf, which boasts oil giants like Safaniyah and Manifa, the Red Sea can be more than 2 km deep in places. At those depths, there are challenges of high temperatures and pressures, underwater volcanoes, and extremely complex geological structures.

"We'd like to understand first the geology and decide on the potential and decide on the next step," Adbulaziz al-Judaimi, Aramco's vice president of new business development, said of the Red Sea exploration efforts in June.

Aramco will narrow down the potential targets with the goal of shooting a 3-D seismic survey over one or more priority areas, Dimensions said.

"Ultimately, the plan is to drill exploration wells in the Red Sea, but there is much work to be done first," the publication said. "The Red Sea represents a truly high-risk and potentially high-reward area to explore, and Saudi Aramco has committed major resources to thoroughly evaluate this exciting and challenging part of the kingdom."

Several industry sources tell Oil Daily that the Red Sea holds significant potential, but has been pushed to the back burner by less risky prospects in Eastern province.

"The highest risk is in the early stages of exploration," Marty Robinson, one of the leaders of Aramco's strategic planning and optimization team, told Dimensions. "A place like the offshore Red Sea is high risk by definition since we haven't begun to drill there yet ... [but] the prospects with the highest level of risk may have some of the largest reserves."

Red Sea acreage formed part of the first Saudi gas initiative, which was launched in 1998 but ended in failure in 2003 after international oil companies and Riyadh were unable to agree on development terms.

Al-Judaimi says Aramco will not look to bring in foreign firms this time round.

Although there is no production from the Red Sea, a few fields have been identified, including an offshore gas field, Barqan, discovered by US-based Tenneco in the late 1960s before it quit the exploration business.

Alex Schindelar, Dubai