Royal Dutch Shell and Total today accepted the Kingdom’s offer to embark upon a joint venture for gas exploration in an area of 200.000 square kilometres in the southern part of Rub’ Al-Khali.
The offer was accepted during a meeting between the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Eng. Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, and Vice-Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, Jeroen van der Veer, which was held on Wednesday afternoon, in the presence of Vice President of Total, Alain Echevalier.
Following the meeting, Eng. Al-Naimi told the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that: “This represents a vital step and represents a vigorous start to international investment in gas exploration and development in the Kingdom.”
“This project is one in a series of upstream gas projects that were envisioned by the Crown Prince, and which will be executed by international oil companies. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources will, according to a specified schedule, be offering other potential areas to such companies. These offers will be subject to procedures that facilitate clear-cut competition and transparency, fostered by the Kingdom’s favourable investment environment, and will be consistent with the highest international standards and practices, contributing to the Kingdom’s achievements of its objectives in natural gas exploration, production and processing,” Al-Naimi said.
Saudi Arabia is hosting a symposium in London on 22-23 July 2003, to be organized by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, to which a considerable number of petroleum companies from Europe, Asia and North America have been invited. The selection of these companies is based upon their experience in the field of exploration and production of natural gas, their financial strength and the scope of their international activities.
These measures accord with directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, and Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General, to foster the development and prosperity of the Saudi economy, to attract foreign investment to the Kingdom, to expand the Kingdom’s economic base, and to utilize the nation’s natural resources in the best possible capacity.
Al-Naimi expressed his gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince for their continual support of the Saudi petroleum sector.
The meeting was attended by Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, Undersecretary at the Ministry for Petroleum Affairs; Prince Faisal bin Turki bin Abdul Aziz, Advisor at the Ministry; Abdulrahman bin Mohammad Abdulkareem, Undersecretary at the Ministry for Companies Affairs, and a number of the Ministry’s
senior officials.
Source: SPA
