Ghawar Oil Field
Courtesy of Econobrowser:
Econbrowser: Weekend links: Jeremy Gilbert, retired Chief Petroleum Engineer of BP, weighed in last week on recent speculation at the Oil Drum about whether the decline in Saudi oil production signals that production from Ghawar, by far the world's biggest and most important oil field, has peaked:
It is, of course, almost tragic that the Saudis won't release more detailed performance data-- and their own analyses-- which would show the situation clearly and avoid the need for the painstaking work reported in Oil Drum.... It seems likely to me that the conclusions the authors have reached about Ghawar's current status are broadly correct. However, it's a big step to take from concluding Ghawar is currently at or close to maximum achievable production rate to saying that that rate cannot be maintained, or even increased, through the addition of additional production wells, through increased or more efficient water injection schemes or through surface facility modifications...