Saudi oil production usage

A senior official has said that Saudi Arabia dedicates around a tenth of its current oil production capacity, or 877,000 per day, to the production of electricity and that by 2032, they plan to nearly triple this rate.

Abdullah al Shehry, governor of the Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority, said around 320 million barrels of crude are used to generate power every year.

Shehri went on to say that the authority plans to raise power capacity to 121,000 megawatts by 2032, which would require some 900 million barrels of crude oil per year.

Electricity demand in Saudi Arabia

Demand for electricity in Saudi Arabia is currently 40,000 MW and rising at an annual rate of eight percent, government officials say. The country hopes, however, to draw 10 percent of its power output from mostly solar energy and other renewable sources by 2020.

Power, provided by state controlled Saudi Electricity, is sold at 12 percent below its production cost, Shehri said. Households account for 53 percent of power consumption, the industrial sector 18 percent and government bodies 14 percent, he added.

Green energy in Saudi

As other countries look towards green energy, Saudi still has its main focus on oil production. Next Generation Oil and Gas Mena previously reported how Saudi continues to remain cautious over green energy.

The largest city of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, plans to spend US$170 billion over the next five years on energy and oil refining efforts; the country's state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco, will bankroll little more than half this endeavor. The energy giant called it unrealistic for Saudi Arabia to plow money into alternative energy sources when the number one cash crop of oil has built its wealth.

The argument of power verses oil is set to continue for a long time yet as Saudi remains adamant that oil is their best option for the future, and electricity demand continues to rocket.

 

Related News:

Oil and gas production in Kuwait |Oil and gas news round-up |The oil megaprojects obsession |An industry going high-tech

Like this article? Get the RSS feed:

blog comments powered by Disqus