Saudi Arabia Energy

Production from Saudi Arabia’s oil fields will remain at near record levels for the next few months, with Riyadh looking to maintain above-average output despite low prices.

Despite the turmoil in global energy markets, Saudi Arabia moved towards the end of 2014 with its economy having outperformed many in the region. 

The first wave of state-backed solar power stations in Saudi were recently unveiled as part of a much larger commitment to diversify the Kingdom’s electricity generation capacity. 

Increased crude production in Saudi Arabia, combined with rising oil prices, has put the Kingdom on track to generate record annual revenues for the sector, with recent figures from Riyadh-based Jadwa Investments indicating that income could reach a yearly high of $288bn for 2012.

Saudi Arabia is accelerating efforts to take its industrialisation process to the next level, moving from the processing of feedstocks – particularly hydrocarbons – towards utilising the resulting petrochemical materials for the manufacture of finished products. Rising demand on both the national power grid and on raw materials, however, could have an impact on the rate at which new developments are realised.

Saudi Arabia has boosted oil production to near record highs, reaching levels of output and exports not seen since before the global economic crisis. According to official data issued in mid-August by the Joint Organisation Data Initiative (JODI), Saudi Arabia increased its crude oil production from 8.89m barrels per day (bpd) in May to 9.76m bpd in June, with overseas shipments averaging 7.38m bpd, the highest since October 2008.