Coordinates: 25 6 N 48 2 E
Estimated volume of oil: 27 billion barrels
The largest exporter of oil with over 20 percent of the world’s reserves, Saudi Arabia occupies roughly three quarters of the peninsula of arid land between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. As of 2007, this desert kingdom was producing approximately 11 million barrels of petroleum daily—an amount that could soon increase if all goes according to plan. Anticipating rising demand from Asia and wanting to exert more control over the market price for oil, the Saudis have lately intensified their efforts to tap into new fields. Khurais, east of Riyadh and roughly 150 miles from the Gulf of Bahrain, is one such project. Getting Khurais online does have its challenges however. In order to bring the light crude to the surface, tens of millions of gallons of seawater will have to be injected beneath the red sand dunes here. Nonetheless, experts predict that when finished, this massive cache will expand the nation’s production capacity by 1.2 million barrels a day.
Ben Keene is the editor of Oxford Atlas of the World. Check out some of his previous places of the week.