DHAHRAN, January 27, 2004 -- Saudi Aramco announced today that it will be partnering with Chinese oil and petrochemical company Sinopec to find and develop gas reservoirs as part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Upstream Gas Offering.
The exploration activities will take place in an approximately 40,000-square-kilometer area in the Kingdom's Rub' Al-Khali Basin, dubbed Contract Area B.
Earlier today, Ali I. Al-Naimi, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, announced that Sinopec had won the bid for the region. To explore Contract Area B, Sinopec and Saudi Aramco will establish an exploration and producing company, with Saudi Aramco as 20 percent shareholder.
Bidding for the 30,000 square-kilometer Contract Area A took place yesterday, and was won by Russian oil company Lukoil.
Contract Area C, comprising 52,000 square kilometers, will be up for bid tomorrow.
