Saudi Arabia may be oil IMPORTER by 2030

Yes, you read that correctly. The worlds largest exporter of black gold could be out of oil to export by 2030! According to this article, the Saudis currently use 25% of what they produce. Much more in fact than most industrialized nations. It also states that as the demand for electricity grows in coming years, they will be consuming even more then. This truly is a problem, perhaps why the US is planning for the future, as if they already knew this may be a possibility.

It also consumes 25% of its production. Energy consumption per capita exceeds that of most industrial nations. Oil and its derivatives account for 50% cent of Saudi's electricity production, used mostly (>50%) for residential use. Peak power demand is growing by 8%/yr. Our analysis shows that if nothing changes Saudi may have no available oil for export by 2030. It Already Consumes All its Gas Production — Saudi Arabia produces 9.6bn ft3/day of natural gas. This is entirely consumed domestically. It is looking to raise gas production to 15.5bn ft3/day by 2015E, implying a 2011-15E CAGR of 12.7%. However, peak power demand is growing at almost 8% pa. We believe Saudi Arabia will need to find new sources to meet residential & industrial demand." As a result of its subsidies we calculate ‘lost’ oil and gas revenues to Saudi Arabia in 2011 to be over $80 billion. This could rise to US$400bn by 2035,” Rehman wrote. At the domestic level, we believe the only real way to rationalize energy consumption would be to reduce subsidy levels.”

blogs.aljazeera.com...

reply to post by thesmokingman
Well there are conflicting reports from the scientific and political communities. However IMO, there has to be a finite source of the crude at somepoint. Other agencies around the world including CIA has been observing the trend as many economies depend upon it. I think that it will not run out by 2030 but little later since by then the alternative technology might help curb the oil production/extraction from the grounds.
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