To Shaybah and Back
To Shaybah and Back
To Shaybah and Back
The Empty Quarter, or the Rub' al-Khali
(rb äl khä´l) (KEY) [Arab.,=empty quarter], great desert of the Arabian peninsula, c.225,000 sq mi (582,750 sq km); one of the largest sand deserts in the world. The desert occupies much of the southern interior of the peninsula, from the highlands of the Nejd (to the north) to the plateaus of Hadhramaut (to the south); it slopes from an altitude of 3,300 ft (1,006 m) in the west to near sea level in the east. Sand dunes rise to over 660 ft (200 m) in the southwest; there are salt marshes and pans in the southeast. Rub' al-Khali is connected to the Nafud desert in the north by the Dahna, a narrow corridor, 800 mi (1,287 km) long. The desert comprises more than 25% of Saudi Arabia. It is extremely dry and virtually uninhabited. Oil of excellent quality has been found there and is exploited. The al-Ghawar oil field is one of the world’s largest.
- Shaybah is the largest oil field in the world developed in the past 20 years.
- Winds routinely reach 50 mph (80 kmph) there.
- Horizontal drilling and 3D seismic technology are used at Shaybah.
- Building Shaybah took 3 years; a similar-size project would have normally required a minimum of 5 years.
- Summer temperatures in Shaybah often exceed 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius).
- Many of the sand dunes surrounding Shaybah are more than 1,000 feet high (333 meters).
- Proven oil reserves in Shaybah field: about 14.3 billion barrels.
- Proven gas reserves: about 25 trillion cubic feet.
- Oil classification: Arab Extra Light (API 42 degrees, sulfur content 0.7 percent)
- Reservoir depth: 4,900 feet (1,633 meters).
- Reservoir thickness: 400 feet (133 meters).
- 30 million cubic meters of sand were moved.
- 200,000 cubic yards of concrete were poured.
- Shaybah has 141 producing wells.
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