RIYADH, 21 November — The state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco has discovered an oil and gas field in the east near the Ghawar field, it was announced here yesterday.

Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi said a test well that was dug in June now yielded around 1,100 barrels per day of crude as well as 1.6 million cubic feet (45,310 cubic meters) of natural gas a day.

The Saudi Press Agency said the new field was the ninth commercially viable discovery by Saudi Aramco in the Eastern Province. It said the firm would do more tests to estimate the field’s reserves.

Saudi Arabia has the world’s biggest oil reserves with an estimated 261 billion barrels and has proven natural gas reserves of 220 trillion cubic feet (6.6 trillion cubic meters).

The new field is located 240 km southeast of Riyadh, 19 km northwest of the Teenat field and 14 km east of Ghawar, the world’s largest oil filed.