Aramco Revs Up Gas Boom as $100 Billion Jafurah Field Starts

Saudi Aramco started production from the largest single shale gas field outside of North America in December, as it looks for alternative supplies to meet growing local electricity demand and free up crude oil for exports.

The Saudi government-run company is investing more than $100 billion in the Jafurah field, its first unconventional gas development. The project is expected to help Saudi Arabia free up about 1 million barrels a day of oil for sales overseas by the end of this decade, buttressing the kingdom’s status as the world’s biggest oil exporter.