Editor's Note:
The Energy Information Administration
(EIA), billed as the "Nation's clearinghouse for energy statistics," released an update to its Country Analysis Brief (CAB) for Saudi Arabia this week.
The EIA is a component of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The series of global CABs are among the resource treasures available through EIA's web site and should be among your short list of links for when you need a well organized collection of information on Saudi Arabia's energy profile.
Today we provide excerpts from the Saudi CAB with links to the complete report. Also included is the list of links to other helpful resources which we particularly like, not just because SUSRIS is counted among their favorites.
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Saudi Arabia - Country Analysis Brief
Energy Information Administration
August 2008
Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producer of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). With approximately one-fifth of the world's proven oil reserves and some of the lowest production costs, Saudi Arabia is expected to remain the world's largest net oil exporter in the near and long-term.
Overview
Saudi Arabia is the world�s largest producer and exporter of total petroleum liquids and is currently the world�s second largest crude oil producer behind Russia. Saudi Arabia�s economy remains heavily dependent on oil and petroleum-related industries, including petrochemicals and petroleum refining. The International Monetary Fund reported that in 2006, the last available data, oil export revenues accounted for around 90 percent of total Saudi export earnings and state revenues and above 40 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
Saudi Arabia�s hydrocarbon sector operations are dominated by the state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco. Saudi Aramco is the world�s largest oil company in terms of proven or �booked� reserves and production of hydrocarbons. In addition, Saudi Arabia�s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and the Supreme Council for Petroleum and Minerals has oversight of the sector and Saudi Aramco directly. The Supreme Council, which is comprised of members of the royal family, industry leaders and government ministers, is responsible for petroleum and natural gas policy-making, including contract review, as well as Saudi Aramco�s strategic planning. The Ministry is responsible for national planning in the area of energy and minerals, including petrochemicals.
Energy Consumption
Saudi Arabia is the fastest growing consumer of energy in the Middle East, particularly in the area of transportation fuels. Domestic consumption growth has been spurred by the economic boom due to historically high oil prices and large fuel subsidies. In 2005, Saudi Arabia was the 15th largest consumer of total primary energy, of which 60 percent was petroleum-based. The remainder was made up of natural gas, the growth of which has been limited by supply constraints.
Reserves
According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Saudi Arabia contains approximately 267 billion barrels of proven oil reserves (including 2.5 billion barrels in the Saudi-Kuwaiti shared "Neutral" Zone), amounting to around one-fifth of proven, conventional world oil reserves. Around two-thirds of Saudi reserves are considered "light," "extra light" or �super light� grades of oil, with the rest either "medium" or "heavy." Although Saudi Arabia has around 100 major oil and gas fields (and more than 1,500 wells), over half of its oil reserves are contained in only eight fields, including the giant 1260-square mile Ghawar (the world's largest oil field, with estimated remaining reserves of 70 billion barrels) and
Safaniya, including Khafji and Hout (the world's largest offshore oilfield, with estimated reserves of 20 billion barrels).
Production Capacity
Saudi Arabia maintains the world�s largest crude oil production capacity, estimated to be around 10.5 - 11 million bbl/d, at mid-year 2008. In 2005, Saudi Arabia�s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced the details of a plan to increase this capacity to 12.5 million bbl/d by 2009, the detail of which are outlined below.
Exports
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest (net) oil exporter and is a key oil supplier to the United States, Europe and Asia. Saudi Aramco�s plans to increase marketed oil production in the medium term hinges on the maintenance and expansion of the petroleum pipeline network, export facilities, and shipping capacity.
In 2006, Saudi Arabia exported an estimated 8.5 million bbl/d of petroleum liquids, the majority of which was crude oil. For 2007, EIA estimated that exports fell to 7.9 million bbl/d, of which approximately 85 percent was crude, 10 percent was NGLs and five percent was refined product.
Asia, including Japan, South Korea, China, and India, now receives an estimated 50 percent of Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports, as well as the majority of its refined petroleum product and NLG exports. Japan remains the single largest importer of Saudi crude in Asia. According to the International Energy Agency
(IEA), in 2007, Japan imported an estimated 1.3 million bbl/d on average. In the same year, South Korea�s imports from Saudi decreased by about 70,000 bbl/d to approximately 790,000 bbl/d.
China�s imports continue to fluctuate widely. In 1995, Saudi Arabia was the 25th largest supplier of crude oil to China; while in 2007, Saudi Arabia was China�s largest crude oil supplier (competing with Iran, Angola and Oman). In 2007, China imported approximately 520,000 bbl/d from Saudi Arabia. Trade press indicates that China boosted contracted oil purchases from Saudi Arabia by 38 percent for 2008, rising to approximately 790,000 bbl/d. China and Saudi Arabia recently signed a MoU which indicates that imports could rise to 1 million bbl/d by 2010.
In 2006 and 2007, Saudi Arabia exported an average of 1.46 million and 1.49 million bbl/d of crude oil respectively to the United States, accounting for 12 percent of U.S. crude oil imports. For this time period, Saudi Arabia ranked third (after Canada, Mexico,) as a source of oil imports to the United States.
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