The Challenges Facing Saudi Arabia Include More Than Oil” alt=”The Challenges Facing Saudi Arabia Include More Than Oil thumbnail” align=”right” border=”0″ style=”padding: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 10px 15px; width: 226px; height: 170px;”/> The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently issued a call for Saudi Arabia to sustain its current oil output during the upcoming seasonally weak global oil demand period in order to rebuild global crude oil inventories following the harsh winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the uptick in developing country oil needs. The IEA estimates that Saudi oil production in January was 9.76 million barrels a day (b/d), down about 60,000 b/d from December’s output level. Saudi’s sales for January, which includes volumes from storage, averaged 9.92 million b/d, down 70,000 b/d from December. A challenge for the Kingdom may come after March when it shuts down the […]