Is Saudi Arabia Running Out Of Oil?





Disappearing Saudi Oil

  

The electricity company of Saudi Arabia has set off alarms to warn that oil in this country could be depleted by 2030 if domestic consumption is left unchecked . According to a report of this company, it is estimated between 2.5 and 3.4 million barrels a day.



The report, published in the magazine Al Mashka of the company itself says that the increase in domestic consumption of oil is one of the main challenges facing the country, mainly because oil accounts for 80% of national income.

Abdel Salam al-Yamani, head of the Saudi Electricity Company also warned of the consequences for citizens to ignore the calls to save electricity and water, and has advised that they depend more on solar energy.

Saudi Arabia, the first country in the world oil exporter, currently produces 8.5 million barrels a day and the government subsidizes oil consumption to about 130,000 billion dollars annually.

On Wednesday the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meets in Vienna to discuss a possible increase in oil production quota to compensate for the lack of Libyan oil and moderate and high prices of black gold. " 

Omran Abu Kraa (center)



It is expected that the ministerial conference tomorrow, Libya will be represented by Omran Abu Kraa, an envoy of the leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, even though Qatar, Kuwait and UAE, also members of OPEC, supporters of the rebel National Transitional Council (CNT).

Not so Venezuela, Ecuador and Iran, contrary to the current NATO intervention in support of opposition to Gadahfi.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has rejected that OPEC may become paralyzed by this situation, but recognizes that the civil war in Libya affects "the oil market."

"We have to analyze the variation of the interruption of production in Libya," Ramirez said in a press  conference, nearly 1.4 million barrels per day of Libyan oil has stopped.

"OPEC has experience in conflict situations. In the 1980's had two members, Iraq and Iran, locked in a bloody war. But OPEC meetings sat at the table," said John van Schaik, oil analyst at the consulting firm of "Medley Global Advisors."

Now, "OPEC looks for a magic formula," said the expert, referring to the difficult decision to adjust the group's production quota to the very different market situation, shaken by the wave of instability in the Middle East, a region key to world oil supplies.

Crude futures declined Friday after three days of gains, dropping toward $100 a barrel on signs Saudi Arabia is raising oil output.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery recently traded $1.78, or 1.8%, lower at $100.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 50 cents lower at $119.07 a barrel.

Oil refiners in Asia said Friday that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude exporter, is offering more crude to buyers for July.

The action signals the kingdom is following through on its pledge to meet world oil demand despite a failure of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries this week to approve a production increase.