If you look at my post in bold It was stated . pu
Post# of 39368
pumping costs of $10 to $25 a barrel in the Mideast and North Africa.
But you still have this factor....
Oil exports account for 85 percent of the Saudi government’s revenue, and the International Monetary Fund estimates the kingdom needs an annual average price of at least $83.60 a barrel to balance the national budget:
Short term they can win because their cost is very low.
Historically, Ghawar has been subdivided into five production areas, from north to south: 'Ain Dar and Shedgum, 'Uthmaniyah, Hawiyah and Haradh. The major oasis of Al-Ahsa and the city of Al-Hofuf are located on Ghawar's east flank, corresponding to the 'Uthmaniyah production area. Ghawar was discovered in 1948 and put on stream in 1951.[2][3] Some sources claim Ghawar peaked in 2005, though this is strongly contested by the field operators.[4][5]
Saudi Aramco reported in mid-2008 that Ghawar had produced 48% of its proven reserves[6]
Production
Approximately 60–65% of all Saudi oil produced between 1948 and 2000 came from Ghawar. Cumulative production until April 2010 has exceeded 65 billion barrels (1.03×1010 m3).[7] It was estimated that Ghawar produced about 5 million barrels (790,000 m3) of oil a day (6.25% of global production) in 2009.[8]
Ghawar also produces approximately 2 billion cubic feet (57,000,000 m3) of natural gas per day.[9]
Reserves
In April 2010, Saad al-Treiki, Vice-President for Operations at Aramco, stated in a news conference reported in Saudi media that over 65 billion barrels (10.3 km3) have been produced from the field since 1951. Treiki further stated that the total reserves of the field had originally exceeded 100 billion barrels (16 km3)[10]
The International Energy Agency in its 2008 World Energy Outlook stated that the oil production from Ghawar reached 66 Bbo in 2007, and that the remaining reserves are 74 Bbo. [8]
Matthew Simmons, in his 2005 book Twilight in the Desert, suggests that production from the Ghawar field and Saudi Arabia may soon peak.[11]
When appraised in the 1970s, the field was assessed to have 170 billion barrels (27 km3) of original oil in place, with about 60 billion barrels (9.5 km3) recoverable (1975 Aramco estimate quoted by Matt Simmons). The second figure, at least, was understated, since that production figure has already been exceeded.[11]