At an industry conference in June 2015, Ali Al Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s former minister of petroleum and mineral resources, hinted that his country could phase out the use of fossil fuels by the middle of this century. While some have called this projection unrealistic, it demonstrates the significant political will driving the Kingdom’s...
Ongoing talks to reduce the global supply of oil in an attempt to raise prices have so far yielded only preliminary agreements, with Saudi Arabia and other major oil-producing nations historically unwilling to reduce their exports. However, with oil prices falling from $115 per barrel for Brent crude in June 2014 to a low of $28.50 in late...
In a January 2016 interview, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud hinted that Saudi Arabia was considering selling a stake in Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer and the central player in the country’s energy sector. The news caught many people in the energy industry by surprise and led to a scramble to try to understand...
In December 2015 Saudi Arabia launched a five-year energy subsidy reform plan aimed at reducing government expenditure and making the Kingdom more energy efficient at a time when revenues have been hit by low oil prices. With the Kingdom relying on oil for an estimated 73% of government revenues, maintaining the existing subsidy framework...
The drop in the price of oil since mid-2014 has had a significant impact on Saudi Arabia, which relies on oil for the vast majority of its fiscal revenue – 73% by some estimates – and for around 40% of its GDP. While global demand remains high, the increasing supply of oil on the international market, much of which is coming from Russia, US...
Jeddah’s industrial market has benefitted from a surge of investment, driven by efforts to diversify away from oil. In late 2015 the Kingdom’s government announced that 45m sq metres of land in and around Jeddah had been allocated for industrial development, to be overseen by the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON), a quasi-...
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