Like the illusion of Wall Street, with its vast and powerful investment banks, now shuttered, China too is an illusion perpetuated by the Globalists that gave us the 15,000 mile Caesar salad, poisoned cat food and lead based paint on babies' pacifiers. Like the illusion that money would come from thin air to always push housing prices higher, China has spent a generation pursuing its illusion. Pursuing an unattainable dream to be like the West, while 6000 years of its carefully shepherded top soil blows into the sea.
Shell confirms find at Saudi Empty Quarter -report
Sat Aug 23, 2008 7:30am BST
DUBAI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell said a joint venture with state-owned Saudi Aramco had discovered a hydrocarbons system at the kingdom's Empty Quarter, Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) reported.
Ceri Powell, vice-president of strategy at Shell International, said South Rub al-Khali Co (Srak) had made a hydrocarbon discovery, but declined to give details, the London-based magazine, published on Friday, reported.
Srak is equally owned by the two partners. Powell is also a Srak board member, MEED said.
The magazine said there had been rumours that Srak discovered commercial quantities of gas as part of drilling at its fourth exploratory well, named Kidan 6, in contract area 1 near the remote Shaybah oil field.
The joint venture began exploring in 2004 for gas, condensate and natural gas liquids in nine blocks in two separate parts of the vast desert area of southeast Saudi Arabia, known in Arabic as Rub al-Khali (Empty Quarter).
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter. (Reporting by Daliah Merzaban; Editing by Ben Tan)
Joined: Apr 06, 2006 Posts: 3626 Location: 3 miles NW of Champoeg, Republic of Cascadia
Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:56 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe the Empty Quarter isn't so empty after all
Gas. Boring. How 'bout some more Texas Tea?
They've been looking for oil there for at least 40 years. Total crapped out looking for NG in the Rub al-Khali a few years back. _________________ Cogito, ergo non satis bibivi
C'mon man, who're you gonna believe?
Joined: Apr 06, 2006 Posts: 3626 Location: 3 miles NW of Champoeg, Republic of Cascadia
Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:15 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe the Empty Quarter isn't so empty after all
Yeah, but when the Bedouins name something "Empty" you know you're really dealing with inhospitableness! Makes Antarctica look like frickin' Eden.
Quote:
Largely unexplored until recently, the desert is one thousand kilometers (600 miles) long, and 500 km (300 mi) wide. Even the Bedouins only skirt the edges of the desert. Nonetheless, tour companies do exist that offer GPS-equipped excursions into the desert. The first documented journeys made by Westerners to the Empty Quarter were those made by Bertram Thomas in 1931 and St. John Philby in 1932. Between 1946 and 1950 Wilfred Thesiger crossed the area several times and mapped large parts of the Empty Quarter and the mountains of Oman.
With summer temperatures up to nearly 55 degrees Celsius (131 F) at noon, and dunes taller than the Eiffel Tower — over 330 meters (1000 ft) — the desert may be the most forbidding environment on Earth. However, as nearly everywhere else, life flourishes. Arachnids, rodents and plant life can all be found throughout the Empty Quarter. As an ecoregion, it falls within the Arabian Desert and East Sahero-Arabian xeric shrublands.
_________________ Cogito, ergo non satis bibivi
C'mon man, who're you gonna believe?
Joined: Mar 25, 2008 Posts: 883 Location: Alif Lam Mim
Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:42 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe the Empty Quarter isn't so empty after all
From what I thought I've read, the Empty Quarter has been known to have oil and gas discoveries in the past. It's just that they've been such inadequate by US and especially Saudi standards that they don't justify the time, money and labor needed to get infrastructure and such in place.
Isn't this REALLY bad news though when the Saudis are reaching towards the Empty Quarter for oil? Seems like the US government taxing the poor people. If you're that desperate, something's wrong with reserves (of oil and cash, respectively).
Maybe I'm in the wrong here with respect to past discoveries in this region. Dangit, I can't seem to find my copy of "Twilight". Someone mind looking it up? I know there's a section in there on it, although brief. _________________ Riches are not from abundance of worldly goods, but from a contented mind.
Joined: Aug 23, 2004 Posts: 574 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 8:30 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe the Empty Quarter isn't so empty after all
It takes a certain mindset to be disappointed about finding commercial quanities of Natural Gas under land in your own country.
I can see how it might make one suicidal. _________________ Congress has found themselves in a bear trap. They will chew off three legs, and still be caught in it...
Joined: Apr 05, 2005 Posts: 1658 Location: Springsteen Country (NJ)
Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 11:17 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe the Empty Quarter isn't so empty after all
OilFinder2 wrote:
Better gas than nothing.
At least it isn't *totally* empty.
Good for you, OF. Extract and burn up the very last oil and gas that exists. Find that last drop, we'll be so much better off when we've found it all and burnt it all up.
That is your purpose, isn't it? _________________ Joe P. United Political Debate
"Only when the last tree is cut; only when the last river is polluted; only when the last fish is caught; only then will they realize that you cannot eat money." - Cree Indian Proverb
Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:23 am Post subject: Re: Maybe the Empty Quarter isn't so empty after all
Quote:
From what I thought I've read, the Empty Quarter has been known to have oil and gas discoveries in the past. It's just that they've been such inadequate by US and especially Saudi standards that they don't justify the time, money and labor needed to get infrastructure and such in place.
Not the case at all. The Saudis have done absolutely no exploration in this area over the past couple of decades. There were a few wells drilled in the seventies and eighties but the area was left alone. There was no need to be looking for more gas, and yes the Saudis always knew that the Rub Al Khali was gas prone and not oil prone, this is not a surprise. Gas became a big deal for the Saudis not that long ago. Since the early nineties they have discovered about 90 TCF in and around Ghawar area. This gas is used to offset burning of fuel oil. A few years ago they opened up the area which encompasses the Rub Al Khali to foreign exploration. The deal was that foreign companies would explore for gas, not oil. Any oil that was found by accident would be turned over to Aramco. This in fact happened in one of the blocks signed by the Russians where they drilled through a structure which was known to exist (Tuk Tuk) to look for Permian Khuff gas. They discovered about 300-400 MMB of oil in the Jurassic which of course gets turned over to Aramco.
I was involved in analysis of the Saudi gas round blocks. The opportunity to find gas was extremely good unfortunately the deal that the Saudis were offering did not make sense from an economic standpoint. The companies that signed up the deals did so because they believed that eventually access to oil exploration or enhanced recovery projects would be granted.
Joined: Apr 06, 2006 Posts: 3626 Location: 3 miles NW of Champoeg, Republic of Cascadia
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:23 am Post subject: Re: Maybe the Empty Quarter isn't so empty after all
Quote:
Rumours have circulated for months that South Rub Al Khali (Srak), a Shell/Aramco gas exploration joint venture, may have found commercial quantities of gas in the vast undeveloped desert region while drilling its fourth exploratory well, named Kidan 6.
Shell said today the well is still being drilled and the company hopes to learn more when it is completed later this year.
But earlier today, a Reuters report citing industry sources said Srak had not discovered a new hydrocarbon system, but had merely reconfirmed a 30-year-old Aramco discovery.
The Kidan 6 well, however, is drilling into rock strata significantly deeper those reached by the previous Saudi wells – reportedly to a depth of about 6,000 metres.
Any deep oil or gas discovery would be new, although likely to contain significant quantities of toxic hydrogen sulphide, which would raise the bar commercially by making production more expensive and technically challenging.
Saudi gas find confusion _________________ Cogito, ergo non satis bibivi
C'mon man, who're you gonna believe?
Joined: Mar 26, 2008 Posts: 1418 Location: Seattle
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:29 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe the Empty Quarter isn't so empty after all
^
Quote:
Royal Dutch Shell has declined to rule out an oil or gas discovery with Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter, following conflicting news reports.
“We are continuing to evaluate the basin,” a Shell spokesman said. “A petroleum system has been proven, but reports of a commercial discovery are premature.”
Kewel, maybe there's some Texas Tea in there after all. _________________ Abundance - what a concept!
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 12:12 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe the Empty Quarter isn't so empty after all
If gas has been found in commercial amounts in the Empty Quarter that is very good news. Shell is also drilling for gas in Northern Libya and southern Syria. Those drilling operations recently got underway.
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