Market and product

Saudi Arabia's local energy reforms will reduce domestic consumption by 2 million b/d of oil equivalent by 2030, the country's energy ministry said on Wednesday.

"Energy reforms begun in 2016 will reduce domestic consumption by 2 million boe/d by 2030 versus previous projections, mostly in liquid form because we prefer to export it than use it inefficiently," Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told delegates at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, still burns oil to produce power but is undertaking local reforms to reduce its domestic consumption.

It has started reducing subsidies for several products, including gasoline, electricity and gas provided for industrial use, to free up crude for export.

The energy minister said earlier this week the kingdom wants to produce 70% of its power from gas and 30% from renewable energy to reduce domestic consumption of crude.

The energy ministry created the Renewable Energy Project Development Office in 2017, which is targeting the generation of 27.3 GW of renewable energy by 2024 and 58.7 GW by 2030.

Saudi Arabia's domestic use of crude oil reached 562,000 b/d in August this year, latest figures from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative showed. - Source: Platts-