Arabian Business: Saudi's search for gas

With the onset of scorching summer heat, the air-conditioning in Saudi Arabia will be set up a few notches and around the clock - temperatures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are known to regularly rise up to 50 degrees Celsius in the hot months. With the mercury rising, the chief worry for Saudi Arabia is power generation, which is why when the country, awash in oil, declared its push for the ‘golden gas’ – it was a relief.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in early 2000 announced it had begun a search for gas to replace oil as the burning fuel to generate power in the country. This would also potentially free up the precious oil for shipment.

Saudi Arabia is the largest consumer of petroleum in the Middle East, particularly in the area of transportation fuels and ‘direct burn’ for power generation.

According to the US’ Energy Information Administration (EIA), Saudi Arabia was the world’s 13th largest consumer of total primary energy in 2009; 60 per cent was petroleum-based, with natural gas accounting for most of the rest. MORE