20-05-04 The governor of Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province sought to reassure energy executives gathered in the region that the country would not be deflected from developing its huge gas reserves by militant strikes in the past year. Delivering the keynote address at the First Saudi Arabian International Gas Conference at the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dammam, Eastern Province Governor Prince Muhammad bin Fahd gave this assurance.
The development of the gas sector, Prince Muhammad said, will introduce new technology to the country and contribute to creating more jobs as well as presenting new business opportunities to the private sector in a range of industries.

The perpetrators of terror attacks are “an isolated group which does not enjoy any support,” Prince Mohammad bin Fahad bin Abdul Aziz told the opening session.
“The Kingdom went through tougher experiences in the past... and came out on top... Moreover, such groups have appeared in many nations at different times,but the advocates of isolation and darkness were defeated,” he said.

The conference, was attended by executives from firms with which Saudi Arabia has signed gas deals in the past six months. Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi said Saudi Arabia had doubled its natural gas reserves in less than a decade to 235 tcf, the fourth largest.
Saudi Arabia signed four major gas deals as part of a strategy aimed at “raising production to meet the requirements of growth and diversify revenue sources by providing gas and its products to various industries, as well as creating job opportunities for nationals,” Al Naimi said.

Saudi Arabia in March signed contracts with Russian energy giant LUKoil, Sinopec of China and a consortium grouping ENI of Italy and Repsol of Spain to explore for and produce non-associated gas in the northern part of the Rub Al Khali, or Empty Quarter, desert. This followed the signing in November 2003 of a multi-billion-dollar landmark deal with a consortium led by Shell, Europe's second-largest energy group, and French giant Total for gas exploration and production in the southern region of Rub Al Khali in the south of the Kingdom.
Al Naimi said Saudi Arabia was currently producing 7 bn cfpd of gas but expected demand to rise to around 12 bn by 2025. The conference was organized by the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EPCCI) in co-operation with the oil ministry and Saudi Aramco.