South Rub al-Khali Company (Srak) will return to the Kidan gas field to drill the seventh and final well of its exploration campaign in the Rub al-Khali (Empty Quarter).

One source close to Srak, a 50:50 joint venture of state energy giant Saudi Aramco and the UK/Dutch Shell Group, says the well, Kidan 7, will be close to the existing Kidan 6 exploratory well.

Srak is currently drilling the fifth well of its exploration campaign, Zaynan 2. It plans to drill the sixth well in its programme, Umm Quloob 1, in the first quarter of 2010, and the seventh well soon after. “We are looking to return to Kidan in early 2010 and hopefully we can tease some more gas from the area,” says the source.

“We are looking to return to Kidan in 2010 and hopefully tease some more gas from the area”

Source close to Srak

In August Srak announced that it had discovered gas reserves in the Kidan field (MEED 3:8:09). Gas flowed at a combined rate of 90 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) from the Kidan 6 well, the fourth to be drilled. The well is near the remote Shaybah oil field, which Aramco has earmarked for development in 2010.

In July, another source close to the project told MEED Srak would submit a plan to develop the Kidan field to the Petroleum & Mineral Resources Ministry once it had completed its exploration work (MEED 29:7:09).

Under the terms of its exploration contract, Srak must have finished its drilling by 25 July 2010. In May 2008, the consortium received approval to extend its drilling campaign by 18 months from the end of that year.

Srak needed more time after running into delays during a period of terrorist attacks in the kingdom in 2004.

The programme is an important element in Saudi Arabia’s plans to develop its gas reserves, which it intends to use as feedstock to develop its industrial base.