What Is The Biggest Oil Discovery of All Time?

What is the biggest oil discovery of all time?

That’s the question Rigzone asked David Moseley, the Head of Europe Research at Welligence, in a recent interview.

Responding to the question, Moseley told Rigzone that “Ghawar in Saudi Arabia is often considered the largest conventional oil discovery globally”.

A story published in Saudi Aramco’s Elements Magazine – which was posted on the company’s website in February this year and penned by Saudi Aramco’s Global Communications Specialist at the time, Daniel Bird – stated that “the ANDR-1 wildcat well, which later led to the discovery of the giant Ghawar field, is currently both the longest production run-life and the highest cumulative production well in Saudi Arabia”.

The story highlighted that cumulative production at ANDR-1 stood at 160.2 million stock tank barrels.

“Drilling of ‘Ain Dar began in 1948, with production starting in 1951 at an extraordinary rate of 15,600 barrels per day (bpd) of ‘dry oil’- which contains only a small amount of basic sediments,” the story noted.

“Although conventional wells are known to start producing a higher volume of water a number of years into commercial production, the dry oil at the ‘Ain Dar well continued to flow for a staggering 49 years, before it first produced the first water volumes in 1999,” it added.

“Today, despite it being one of our earliest wildcat wells, it continues to deliver 2,800 bpd – some 73 years after production first started at the site – which is possible thanks to the continuous adoption of new, improved extraction technologies,” it continued.

“Remarkably, the original well casings are still in place, showcasing the workmanship and quality of materials used by our engineers in the 1940s,” it went on to state.

When Rigzone asked Moseley if we are likely to see another discovery of Ghawar’s magnitude in the future, the Head of Europe Research at Welligence told Rigzone that there is minimal likelihood of a conventional discovery of similar size being made.

“While big oil discoveries are still being made globally, these are order of magnitudes smaller,” Moseley said.

“Such is the size of … Ghawar … [that] making a discovery of this scale in an already proven basin, effectively hiding in plain sight, would be beyond unlikely,” he added.

“A new oil discovery over 100 billion barrels would require an entirely new, as yet unproven basin, with a world class hydrocarbon system in a hitherto undrilled region,” he went on to state.

Welligence is a market intelligence firm focused on the upstream oil and gas sector. The company delivers technical data and deep analysis for over 3,000 commercial upstream assets, while covering every regional exploration block, Welligence’s website states.

Aramco describes itself on its site as “one of the world’s largest integrated energy and chemicals companies, creating value across the hydrocarbon chain, and delivering societal and economic benefits to people and communities around the globe who rely on the vital energy we supply”.

The company’s site highlights that, this year, Aramco marks its “92nd year of exploration, discovery, and innovation stemming from our long-term role as caretakers of Saudi Arabia’s vast hydrocarbon resources”.

Aramco states on its site that it “manages Saudi Arabia’s unique hydrocarbon reserves base, optimizing production and increasing long-term value”. The site outlines that this reserves base stands at 250.0 billion barrels of oil.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com