Saudi Aramco has discovered natural gas fields in four regions of the kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday, citing Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

The fields were found in the central area of the kingdom, in the Empty Quarter desert, near its northern border and in the eastern region, he said, according to the state news agency.

Saudi Arabia wants to increase gas production and boost the share of natural gas in its energy mix, replacing crude and fuel oil, to meet growing electricity consumption and to make more crude available for export.

Saudi Aramco in talks on more investments in China

The minister said an unspecified number of fields were discovered and he mentioned five by name, without indicating in the SPA report if these were all the reservoirs that has been found.

The fields he mentioned are Shadoon, in the central region, Shehab and Shurfa, in the Empty Quarter, in the southeastern region, Umm Khansar, near the northern border with Iraq, and Samna, in the eastern region.

Two of the gas fields, Samna and Umm Khansar, are "non-conventional," he said. Non-conventional deposits, also known as shale, are usually trapped in tight pore spaces, requiring special extraction techniques.