Saudi Arabia grapples with gas conundrum - FT.com

As the summer sun burns and the air-conditioning units run round the clock, attention in Saudi Arabia focuses on energy demand – and in particular the kingdom’s gas conundrum.

According to the annual report of Aramco, the national oil company, the intention is that production of raw gas – unprocessed natural gas – should reach 15.5bn cu ft a day (bcf/d) by 2015 from 10.2 bcf/d last year.

Progress towards this goal took place last month when the offshore Karan field began production. It is set to produce on average about 0.45 bcf/d through the rest of this year.

* username: rupertbu