Saudi chief: Top oil field not in decline

HOUSTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The head of Saudi Arabia's national oil company is playing down rumors the world's largest oil field, Ghawar, is declining production.

"The interesting thing is that over the last 10 years Ghawar has consistently been producing between 5 and 6 million barrels (per day)," Saudi Aramco President and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Jumah told an international energy conference Tuesday in Houston. He added the company has increased it by another 300,000 bpd.

He said engineers are decreasing the water count to 27 percent.

With an estimated 70 billion barrels of reserves in Ghawar alone, the field produces more than half of the world's largest oil producer's daily output. Experts have said the water count is too high and recoverable reserves dwindling.

"We really don't give a lot of attention to it," he said at the CERAWeek conference. "We stay the course because we are in serious business."