The Middle East

Saudi Arabia’s government has indicated it wants to raise as much as $200bn through the privatisation of state-owned assets, with one of its largest desalination plants among the first targets for disposal. The Ras Al Khair cogeneration plant has the capacity to produce more than 1m cu metres of desalinated water daily, and in 2018 the...

Natural gas looks likely to play an increasingly important role in Saudi Arabia’s economy in the years ahead as the Kingdom begins to tap into new reservoirs that are poised to satisfy the growing demand from the power generation, desalination and industrial sectors. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, the minister of energy, hinted that the...

Saudi Arabia’s energy sector remains the backbone of the economy. While the country’s reliance on the commodity exposes it to external shocks, domestic energy policy and influence within the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) can work to dramatically shape international oil prices, which in turn affects many parts of the...

Crude oil remains Saudi Arabia’s biggest asset, and economies around the world are reliant on how the Kingdom responds to challenges. At 2019 production rates, Saudi Arabia’s known reserves are expected to last more than 50 years, and at the start of that year more than 80% of the oil produced by the state-owned energy company, Saudi Aramco,...

Located on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, Jeddah is the Kingdom’s second-most populous city after the capital Riyadh, and serves as a key commercial and logistics centre. Its regional importance stems from more than its proximity to the holy cities of Makkah and Medina. In addition to boasting the two largest seaports on the Red Sea, the city...