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Saudi Oil Faces Summer Heat Challenge: Chart of the Day

Saudi Arabia will probably have to sustain production above 10 million barrels a day for the longest period in more than 30 years as it meets the summer surge in domestic demand and compensates for production losses in Libya . The CHART OF THE DAY shows how, over the past half decade, Saudi Arabian crude oil burning for power generation expanded by an average of 500,000 barrels a day in the six months through August as people turned up their air conditioners. A repeat this year would eat up about 5 percent of the kingdom’s current output at a time when Libya, the holder of Africa ’s largest oil reserves, is all but offline. “The summer this year will pose the real challenge, particularly if most Libyan production remains offline,” Robin Mills, the head of consulting at Dubai-based Manaar Energy Consulting and Project Management, said in an interview. To […]

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Saudi Sniffs at Spreading Health Crisis

The Kingdom is accused of suppressing the spread of news about the deadly MERS virus, but failing to stop the spread of the virus itself Saudi Arabia’s doctors are having no luck stopping the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus from sweeping the country, but the government is doing much better at preventing news of the disease from spreading. In an effort to  control  information related to the virus spreading across the country, the government has ordered Saudi media outlets to quote only official sources on the disease. In parallel, the Saudi Ministry of Health issued a notice last week threatening health workers with prison for disclosing any health ministry information. With each passing day, the number of reported cases of MERS, known in the kingdom as “coronavirus,” is growing—and along with it, public anxiety. According to experts, over the last month, MERS cases in Saudi Arabia have […]

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U.S. Taking on More Saudi Oil Despite Shale Glut

The U.S. Energy Department said imports from OPEC increased year-on-year, with Saudi Arabia accounting for the bulk of additional oil. While oil production from the United States has increased, the data show the global market is still interconnected. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported the amount of petroleum imported from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was 3.57 million barrels per day in December, the last full month for which data are available from EIA. While only 0.5 percent higher year-on-year, the increase suggests the global energy market is still interconnected despite the success of shale. Imports from Venezuela, the No. 2 OPEC exporter to the United States, declined 22 percent from December 2012 to 846,000 bpd. Petroleum imports from Saudi Arabia in December, however, were 1.5 million bpd, a 47 percent increase year-on-year. For non-OPEC members, the United States imported about 1 million bpd from Mexico […]

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Saudi dynasty moves to forestall succession crisis

Saudi Arabia’s appointment of Prince Muqrin as deputy crown prince is a first step towards addressing its biggest dynastic challenge for 50 years and forestalling a possible succession crisis in the world’s top oil exporter. The ruling al-Saud family is fast approaching the moment when it must decide how to jump down a generation from a line of brothers born to the country’s founder King Abdulaziz to their sons and nephews, a process fraught with difficulty. For a dynasty that now sees itself as governing a rare island of stability in a region aflame with conflict and political discord, and facing looming demographic challenges, that decision is […]

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Saudi Arabia Appoints Prince Muqrin as Second in Line to Throne

Saudi Arabia named Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz as second in line to the throne, the latest royal promotion as King Abdullah confronts unprecedented political instability in the Middle East and economic changes at home. Muqrin, the king’s half-brother who was born in 1945, was made second crown prince alongside his duties as second deputy prime minister, the official Saudi Press Agency said yesterday, citing a royal decree. King Abdullah named his defense minister and half-brother Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, born in 1935, crown prince in June 2012, making the traditionalist former governor of Riyadh next in line to become king. “By many accounts, Prince Muqrin is a close and trusted adviser to King Abdullah,” said Fahad Nazer, a political analyst at Vienna, Virginia-based JTG, and a former official at the Saudi embassy in Washington . “His relative youth, extensive experience in government and knowledge of the West make him […]

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U.S. Oil Boom Shifts Alliance as Obama Visits Saudi King

When Barack Obama sits down tomorrow with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah , he’ll do so knowing the U.S. is importing the least crude in two decades, a shift changing America’s strongest relationship in the Arab world. Five years after Obama’s first visit to Riyadh, the drilling of shale oil fields from North Dakota to Texas has put the U.S. on the path to energy independence, weakening economic interdependence between the two nations as they work through disagreements on Syria and Iran. The U.S. energy boom that’s upended global markets is now reshaping political alliances built over decades. Almost 70 years after Franklin Roosevelt cemented relations with the Saudi royal family, the U.S. finds itself free to address policy differences with oil as less of a bargaining chip, analysts said. The shift gives the U.S. a freer hand in shaping Middle East policy, especially in seeking an accommodation with Iran […]

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The Challenges Facing Saudi Arabia Include More Than Oil

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 […]

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Saudi Arabia: besieged and fearful

The Saudi regime has long been considered a pillar of political stability in the Middle East, a country that commanded respect and prudence from all its neighbors. This is no longer true, and the first ones to recognize this are those who are important internal players in the regime. Today, they feel besieged on all sides and quite fearful of the consequences of turmoil in the Middle East for the survival of the regime. Dhee Ayn in Hejaz (also known as Aqabat al-Baha or the Marble Village). A 400-year-old village built on a marble mountain visible for several kilometers as one approaches the village. Even from a distance the place can easily be located by its white glow. The houses of the village itself are not made of marble, but of flake stones and slate. Photo by Hejazi Israel (2010). Via Wikimedia Commons .   This turn-around derives from […]

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Aramco keen to raise natural gas output

Aramco keen to raise natural gas output thumbnail" align="right" border="0" style="padding: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 10px 15px; width: 226px; height: 170px;"/> Saudi Aramco plans to produce 200 million cubic feet per day (cfd) of unconventional natural gas by 2018 to supply a new phosphate project and a power plant, an industry source said. Saudi Arabia aims to develop shale gas for power generation in order to save more of its crude oil for export. Aramco is keen to increase gas output as it can fetch $100 per barrel by exporting crude oil versus around $4 if it sells it to a Saudi power plant. CEO Khalid Al-Falih said last year the company was ready to commit gas for the development of a 1,000 megawatt power plant which will feed a phosphate mining […]

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Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain pull ambassadors from Qatar

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have issued a joint statement withdrawing their ambassadors from Qatar. "The three states have decided to start taking measures they see fit to protect their security and stability, affirming that they are safeguarding the interests of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, including neighbouring Qatar," the statement read. Qatar has failed to "stick to the principles of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states and refraining from supporting all who threaten the security of the council states," the statement added. In response, Qatar said it "regrets" the move, but will not reciprocate, AFP reported Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani committed to a security agreement during a meeting with Kuwait’s emir and the Saudi monarch in Riyadh on 23 November 2013. Calls for Qatar to abide by the agreement were reiterated on 17 February in Kuwait and again during a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple