Safaniya oil field, Persian Gulf

Safaniya is the largest offshore oil field in the world. It lies in the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf, about 265 kilometres north of Dhahran on the coast of Saudi Arabia, and it is owned and run by Saudi Aramco.

The field measures roughly 50 by 15 kilometres. It was discovered in 1951 and began producing oil in 1957. It holds about 37 billion barrels of oil, and today it can produce well over a million barrels a day. Much of this oil is heavy and thick, which makes Safaniya Saudi Arabia's main source of heavy crude. Oil from here is shipped across the world.

Discovery and growth

Safaniya was found in 1951. When it first produced in 1957, 18 wells gave about 50,000 barrels a day. By the start of 1962 the field could handle 350,000 barrels a day from 25 wells, and by 1993 there were 624 wells. When Saudi oil output peaked in 1980 and 1981, Safaniya alone was producing more than 1.5 million barrels a day. Today it still produces hundreds of thousands of barrels daily.

What lies underground

The oil sits in a layer of sandstone from the Cretaceous period, in a rock fold that is about 65 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide. The oil is found between about 1,200 and 2,100 metres below the sea floor. Geologists think the field shares an underground water layer with neighbouring fields that run toward Kuwait, including Khafji and Burgan. Because the field is out at sea, the wells are on platforms linked by pipelines to the shore.

On the globe

The model shows the field as small platforms standing in the shallow Persian Gulf. Look for the many wells in the water.