Saudi Arabia Energy Profile: World’s Top Crude Oil Exporter – Analysis
By EIA
Saudi Arabia was the world’s third-highest crude oil and condensate producer, the world’s top crude oil exporter, and OPEC’s top crude oil producer in 2023.1
As part of its OPEC+ membership, Saudi Arabia agreed to 0.5 million barrels per day (b/d) in additional crude oil production cuts that began in May 2023. In June 2024, OPEC+ extended these cuts through December 2025. Saudi Arabia unilaterally cut an additional 1.0 million b/d of OPEC+ production starting in July 2023, which (at the time of writing) it plans to gradually restore from November 2024 through the end of 2025.2
Saudi Arabia seeks to increase its electricity generation capacity from natural gas and renewable energy sources as part of the country’s Vision 2030.3 The Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) awarded bids for four natural gas-fired power plant projects in October 2023 and began receiving bids for four additional projects in January 2024. Each project has 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of additional capacity.4 Saudi Arabia’s government has over 21 GW in planned renewable energy projects as of mid-2024, the majority of which are for solar power.5
Petroleum and other liquids
Saudi Arabia produced 9.5 million b/d of crude oil in 2023, a 9% decrease from 10.4 million b/d in 2022. This decrease reflects OPEC+ production cuts from 2023 intended to balance the market amid increased production from non-member countries. Total liquid fuels production in Saudi Arabia decreased 8%, from 12.1 million b/d in 2022 to 11.1 million b/d in 2023.6
Saudi Arabia produces five grades of crude oil: Arabian Heavy, Arabian Medium, Arabian Light, Arabian Extra Light, and Arabian Super Light. In general, the majority of Saudi Arabia’s crude oil is considered sour because its sulfur content is greater than 1%.7
In January 2024, Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company (NOC), halted plans to expand crude oil production capacity to 13 million b/d by 2027, which would have been a 1 million b/d increase from the its stated capacity of 12 million b/d in 2023.8 Saudi Aramco had large expansion projects scheduled for the Safaniya, Manifa, Zuluf, Marjan, and Berri oil fields as part of previously planned capacity increases. Saudi Aramco canceled the bid process for Safaniya and Manifa development projects. However, construction and engineering activity continued for the Majan, Berri, and Zuluf oil fields, which Saudi Aramco plans to use to maintain maximum sustainable capacity at 12 million b/d while allowing currently producing reservoirs to decline more quickly.9
Saudi Arabia accounted for nearly 40% of the Middle East’s oil consumption in 2023 and was the world’s fifth-highest consumer of liquid fuels after the United States, China, India, and Russia. Total liquid fuels consumption in Saudi Arabia increased 2% year over year, from 3.6 million b/d in 2022 to 3.7 million b/d in 2023.10
Saudi Arabia held an estimated 17% of the world’s proved oil reserves and 22% of OPEC’s proved reserves in 2023, according to OPEC data. Saudi Arabia’s reserves include Ghawar and Safaniya, the world’s largest onshore and offshore oil fields, respectively.11
Petroleum product output in Saudi Arabia declined 9% from 2.8 million b/d in 2022 to 2.5 million b/d in 2023, a 76% average utilization rate for Saudi Aramco’s 3.3 million-b/d domestic refining capacity. Gasoline and distillates made up 67% of Saudi Arabia’s petroleum product output in 2023. This proportion increased by an average of 1.5% each year in the 10-year period from 2014 to 2023, which was primarily driven by increased middle distillate production from Saudi Arabia’s SATORP, YASREF, and Jazan refineries, which came online in 2014, 2015, and 2021, respectively.12
Natural gas
Saudi Arabia meets all of its natural gas consumption with domestic production. The country produced 4.3 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of dry natural gas in 2022 and 2023, remaining flat year over year because of decreased crude oil production and associated natural gas production.13
As of 2021, Saudi Aramco expected domestic demand for natural gas to grow 3.7% per year until 2030 because of increased demand for natural gas-fired power generation.14 In 2023, nonassociated natural gas, which has been generally increasing as share of total natural gas production since 2003, represented 51% of natural gas production in Saudi Arabia, up from 48% in 2022.15 Nonassociated natural gas allows Saudi Arabia to meet domestic natural gas demand despite shifts in crude oil production that limit associated natural gas output.16
Saudi Arabia holds the world’s sixth-largest proved natural gas reserves after Russia, Iran, Qatar, the United States, and Turkmenistan.17
Jafurah, the largest unconventional natural gas field in Saudi Arabia, contains 229 Tcf in natural gas reserves, which includes 15 Tcf of additional proved reserves announced by the Saudi government in early 2024. Jafurah is under development, and initial start-up is planned for late 2025. Saudi Aramco expects natural gas production to reach 2.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by 2030.18
Saudi Arabia has six major natural gas processing facilities. Saudi Aramco’s Fadhili natural gas plant is the company’s first nonassociated natural gas plant for both onshore and offshore fields, and in April 2024, Saudi Aramco awarded contracts to increase the Fadhili plant’s processing capacity from 2.5 Bcf/d to 4 Bcf/d by the end of 2027. The plant became fully operational in 2021, and Saudi Aramco expects the planned increase to support Saudi Arabia’s goal to increase natural gas production.19
Saudi Arabia ranked as the 10th-highest natural gas flaring country by volume for 2023. That year, it flared 88 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of associated natural gas at an average intensity of 25 cubic feet per barrel (cf/b), up from 66 Bcf at an average intensity of 17 cf/b in 2022.
Electricity
Saudi Arabia generated an estimated 453 terawatthours (TWh) of electricity in 2023, with 62% from natural gas, 38% from oil, and less than 1% from renewables. Natural gas-fired electricity generation increased 8% year over year, from 260 TWh in 2022 to 280 TWh in 2023. Renewable-based electricity generation increased 153% year over year, from 1 TWh to 3 TWh. Oil-fired electricity generation remained relatively flat.21
Total electricity consumption in Saudi Arabia increased 6% year over year, from 372 TWh in 2021 to 393 TWh in 2022. The Middle East Economic Survey reports that annual electricity consumption increased another 5% in 2023 and increases continued through the first half of 2024.22
Increases in Saudi Arabia’s electricity consumption, especially during peak summer season, have led to greater oil-fired power generation. Monthly burn of crude oil and fuel oil in Saudi Arabia reached 1.419 million b/d in June 2024, the country’s highest since June 2022 (1.481 million b/d). Oil-fired power generation supplements natural gas-fired power and renewables-based power to help meet demand for electricity, especially during peak summer months, despite continued increases in capacity from other sources.23
Water desalination represented 6% of Saudi Arabia’s electricity consumption in 2020, and the Saudi Water Authority (SWA) expects water desalination capacity to exceed 3.4 billion gallons per day (gal/d) across 43 operating desalination plants in 2024. In 2021, Saudi Arabia desalinated nearly 1.6 billion gal/d of water across 32 plants.24
Saudi Arabia plans to increase the country’s natural gas power plant capacity from 46% of total power generation capacity in 2022 to 50% by 2030, continuing operations of its existing natural gas power plants and constructing several planned power plants.25
Saudi Arabia’s National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) had 5 GW in planned project capacity for renewables in 2020, mostly for solar power. Five of these projects (2.8 GW) represented Saudi Arabia’s installed renewable energy capacity at the end of 2023.26
Saudi Arabia’s government seeks to have renewable energy sources represent 50% of electricity generation capacity by 2030, up from 3% at the end of 2023, with over 21 GW in planned renewable energy projects as of mid-2024. From those projects, 9.7 GW are planned for completion through 2026.27
In June 2024, Saudi Arabia launched NREP’s Geographic Survey Project for Renewable Energy. The survey will install 1,200 solar and wind energy measuring stations across more than 328,000 square miles to identify potential development sites for renewable energy projects. 28
Energy trade
Crude oil and petroleum product exports from Saudi Arabia represented 34% and 26%, respectively, of OPEC exports in 2023. Saudi Arabia exported 7.0 million b/d of crude oil in 2023, down 5% from 7.4 million b/d in 2022, because of decreased oil production. Saudi Arabia’s petroleum product exports declined 8% year over year, from 1.4 million b/d in 2022 to 1.3 million b/d in 2023.29
Asia is Saudi Arabia’s primary export market for crude oil, receiving 75% of Saudi Arabia’s total annual crude oil exports in 2023. China, Japan, South Korea, and India were its top crude oil importers.30
Saudi Arabia shipped 42% (6.2 million b/d) of the crude oil that transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2023. The Strait of Hormuz is the seaborne entrance to the Persian Gulf and one of the world’s most important oil transit chokepoints. Most exports of petroleum and natural gas from the Persian Gulf to Europe and North America pass through several chokepoints, including the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal or the SUMED pipeline, and the Bab el-Mandeb.31
Saudi Arabia can circumvent the Strait of Hormuz and Bab El-Mandeb by transporting crude oil to the Red Sea via the country’s 5 million b/d East-West crude oil pipeline, which is temporarily expandable to 7 million b/d when needed.32
The proportion of seaborne crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia originating from Yanbu, the country’s primary crude oil export terminal on the Red Sea, reached a record 18% in the second quarter of 2024.33 In early 2024, Saudi Aramco began exporting Arab Heavy from Yanbu, which is usually exported from Saudi Arabia’s gulf coast, to circumvent ongoing threats of Houthi attacks on cargo vessels going through the Bab el-Mandeb.34
Saudi Arabia imported 375,000 b/d of seaborne fuel oil in June 2024, a monthly record since at least 2019 and a 57% increase year over year from 239,000 b/d in June 2023. Driven by domestic electricity demand and discounted prices, fuel oil imports from Russia to Saudi Arabia began to increase in the summer of 2022, until Russia banned fuel exports in 2023. After Russia’s export ban was lifted in early 2024, by July 2024, over 40% of Saudi Arabia’s monthly seaborne fuel oil imports originated from Russia.35
Saudi Arabia exported 0.4 TWh of electricity in 2022 and imported 0.3 TWh of electricity, each remaining flat compared with 2021.36 Electricity from Saudi Arabia can be traded through interconnected electricity grids between member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman.37
In partnership with the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA), Saudi Arabia officially launched a 1-GW electricity interconnection project with Iraq in 2023, connecting Arar, in northern Saudi Arabia, with Baghdad.38 Saudi Arabia expects an electricity interconnection project with Egypt to be fully operational by 2026. The project, initially launched in 2022, could transmit up to 3 GW of electricity between the two countries.39
- This article was published by EIA
Endnotes
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics database (accessed August 2024); OPEC, Annual Statistical Bulletin, Data download, Crude oil production in OPEC and non-OPEC DoC Members (accessed August 2024); OPEC, Annual Statistical Bulletin, Data download, World crude oil exports by country (accessed August 2024).
- OPEC, “Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman met in person in Riyadh on the sidelines of the 37th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting (ONOMM),” June 2, 2024; OPEC, “Several OPEC+ countries announce extension of additional voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day for the second quarter of 2024,” March 3, 2024; Olesya Astakhova, Alex Lawler and Ahmad Ghaddar, Reuters, OPEC+ unlikely to change oil output policy at Aug 1 JMMC meeting, sources say, July 18, 2024; TD Ameritrade, “OPEC+ Extends Cuts and Plans for Production Increases,” June 3, 2024; Enerdata, “OPEC+ announces new 1.66 mb/d crude oil production cuts,” April 4, 2023; OPEC, “Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman extend voluntary cuts,” September 5, 2024.
- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030 (accessed August 2024).
- Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Saudi Arabia Plans 7.2GW New Gas-Fired Power Plants,” January 12, 2024, Vol. 67 No. 2; Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Saudi Arabia Awards 8.4GW Gas-Fired Capacity,” November 3, 2023, Vol. 66 No. 44.
- Blackridge Research & Consulting, “Saudi Arabia Announces Multi-Billion Dollar Greenfield Solar Projects,” June 24, 2024; Power Technology, “Top five solar PV plants in development in Saudi Arabia,” February 15, 2024; Power Technology, “Saudi Arabia announces qualified bidders for 3.7GW solar projects,” February 12, 2024; Saudi Gulf Projects, “Saudi Arabia signs Agreements for 5,500 MW Solar PV Projects,” June 25, 2024.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics database (accessed July 2024); U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook Data Browser (accessed July 2024); Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler, and Maha El Dahan, Reuters, “OPEC+ extends deep oil production cuts into 2025,” June 2, 2024; OPEC, “Several OPEC+ countries announce extension of additional voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day for the second quarter of 2024,” March 3, 2024.
- Saudi Aramco, Base Prospectus, June 7, 2021; U.S. Energy Information Administration, Today in Energy, “Changing quality mix is affecting crude oil price differentials and refining decisions,” September 21, 2017.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Today in Energy, “United States produces more crude oil than any country, ever,” March 11, 2024; Maha El Dahan and Yousef Saba, Reuters, “Saudi Arabia orders Aramco to lower oil capacity target,” January 30, 2024; Ruxandra Iordache, CNBC, “Saudi energy minister pins Aramco’s oil capacity halt on green transition,” February 12, 2024.
- American Journal of Transportation, “Saudi Arabia takes a pause – Rystad Energy’s Oil Market Update,” February 8, 2024; Zawya, “Project Updates: Aramco’s Marjan and Berri crude oil increments to come onstream by 2025,” March 21, 2024; Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Aramco Drops Expansion Capacity Plans,” February 2, 2024, Vol. 66 No. 5.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics database (accessed July 2024); U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook Data Browser (accessed July 2024).
- OPEC, Annual Statistical Bulletin, Data download, World proven crude oil reserves by country (accessed July 2024); William Pentland, Forbes, “World’s Five Largest Offshore Oil Fields,” September 7, 2013; Oil & Gas Middle East, “Revealed: 5 largest oilfields in the Middle East,” April 3, 2023; Saudi Aramco, Products: Oil Production (accessed August 2023).
- OPEC, Annual Statistical Bulletin, Data download, World output of petroleum products in OPEC Members (accessed July 2024); OPEC, Annual Statistical Bulletin, Data download, Refinery capacity in OPEC Members by company and location (accessed July 2024); OPEC, Annual Statistical Bulletin, Data download, World refinery throughput by country (accessed July 2024); U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Background Reference: Saudi Arabia,” December 2, 2021; Jadwa Investment, “Update: Outlook on Crude Oil Refining in Saudi Arabia,” March 1, 2018; Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Aramco CEO: Jazan Refinery Throughputs Hit 400,000 b/d Capacity?,” March 17, 2023, Vol. 66 No. 11; Mohammed Al-Mahish, Fahad Alzahrani, Raga Elzaki, and Mayada Ben Slama, Heliyon, “Economies of scale in Saudi Arabia’s refining sector: An application of modern econometric models,” August 15, 2024, Vol. 10 No. 15.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics database (accessed July 2024).
- Saudi Aramco, Base Prospectus, June 7, 2021.
- Rystad Energy UCube (accessed August 2024).
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Country Analysis Brief: Saudi Arabia,” October 11, 2023.
- OPEC, Annual Statistical Bulletin, Data download, World proven natural gas reserves by country (accessed July 2024).
- Saudi Press Agency, “Minister of Energy Announces a Significant Increase in Reserves of Gas and Condensate in the Jafurah Unconventional Field,” February 25, 2024; Saudi Aramco, News & Media, Latest news, “Aramco’s strategic gas expansion progresses with $25bn contract awards,” June 30, 2024; Reuters, “At Saudi Aramco’s Jafurah field, another 15 trln standard cubic feet of gas reserves proven,” February 24, 2024.
- Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Aramco: 1.5bn Cfd Gas Capacity Hike With $7.7bn Fadhili Expansion,” April 5, 2024, Vol. 67 No. 14; Saudi Aramco, What we do, Energy products, Gas production (accessed July 2024).
- World Bank, Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR), Global Gas Flaring Tracker (accessed August 2024).
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics database (accessed July 2024); Energy Institute, Statistical Review of World Energy, 2023; Electricity generation for 2023 is estimated based on year-over-year growth rates from Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics database (accessed August 2024); Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Power Surge: Saudi Arabia’s Electricity Demand Soars To New Heights,” March 22, 2024, Vol. 67 No. 12; Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Saudi Arabia’s Electricity Consumption Soars, Oil Burn Doesn’t,” August 16, 2024, Vol. 67 No. 33.
- Joint Organisations Data Initiative, Oil World Database (accessed August 2024); U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Country Analysis Brief: Saudi Arabia,” October 11, 2023.
- Marc-Antoine Eyl-Mazzega and Elise Cassignol, Policy Center for the New South, The Geopolitics of Seawater Desalination, September 2022; Rinat Gainullin and Hala H. Koura, Arab News, “The rise and rise of water desalination in Saudi Arabia,” September 11, 2022; Nusa Dua, World Water Forum, “The 11th World Water Forum Host Country Saudi Arabia Prepares to Present Seawater Desalination Technology,” May 25, 2024; U.S. International Trade Administration, Saudi Arabia – Country Commercial Guide, Water(accessed August 2024).
- Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Saudi Arabia Plans 7.2GW New Gas-Fired Power Plants,” January 12, 2024, Vol. 67 No. 2; Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Saudi Arabia Awards 8.4GW Gas-Fired Capacity,” November 3, 2023, Vol. 66 No. 44.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Country Analysis Brief: Saudi Arabia,” October 11, 2023; Saudi & Middle East Green Initiatives, “Saudi Arabia announces 300% increase in installed renewables capacity, 43.9 million trees planted since launch of Saudi Green Initiative,” December 4, 2023.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Country Analysis Brief: Saudi Arabia,” October 11, 2023; Blackridge Research & Consulting, “Saudi Arabia Announces Multi-Billion Dollar Greenfield Solar Projects,” June 24, 2024; Power Technology, “Top five solar PV plants in development in Saudi Arabia,” February 15, 2024; Power Technology, “Saudi Arabia announces qualified bidders for 3.7GW solar projects,” February 12, 2024; Saudi Gulf Projects, “Saudi Arabia signs Agreements for 5,500 MW Solar PV Projects,” June 25, 2024; Puneet Kamboj, Mohamad Hejazi, Khalid Alhadhrami, Yang Qiu, Page Kyle, and Gokul Iyer, KAPSARC, “Saudi Arabia Net Zero GHG Emissions by 2060,” December 2023; Elias Al Helou, Middle East Economy, “Saudi Arabia’s 1,200-station renewable energy mapping project aims to accelerate clean power goals,” June 25, 2024; Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Saudi Oil Burn Drops As Renewables Progress,” May 24, 2024, Vol. 67 No. 21.
- Saudi Press Agency, “Ministry of Energy Launches the Unprecedented Geographical Survey Project for Renewable Energy Sites in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” June 24, 2024; Elias Al Helou, Middle East Economy, “Saudi Arabia’s 1,200-station renewable energy mapping project aims to accelerate clean power goals,” June 25, 2024; Heba Hashem, Break Bulk, “Kingdom Gears Up for Gigawatts of Renewable Power,” December 21, 2023.
- Energy Institute, Statistical Review of World Energy, 2023; OPEC, Annual Statistical Bulletin, Data download, World exports of petroleum products by country (accessed August 2024); OPEC, Annual Statistical Bulletin, Data download, OPEC Members’ crude oil exports by destination (accessed August 2024).
- Global Trade Tracker, Analytics, Country Level Tradeflows (accessed August 2024); Vortexa Energy Flows Analytics (accessed August 2024).
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Country Analysis Brief: World Oil Transit Chokepoints,” June 25, 2024.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Country Analysis Brief: World Oil Transit Chokepoints,” June 25, 2024; U.S. Energy Information Administration, “The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important oil transit chokepoint,” November 21, 2023; Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Saudi Red Sea Crude Exports To Europe Soar,” March 22, 2024, Vol. 67 No. 12.
- Vortexa Energy Flows Analytics (accessed August 2024).
- Middle East Economic Survey, Weekly Energy, Economic & Geopolitical Outlook, “Aramco Bypasses Houthi Threat With Yanbu Arab Heavy-To-Europe Shipments,” February 23, 2024, Vol. 67 No. 8; Michael Wakin, Associated Press, “A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targets a ship transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait,” July 10, 2024.
- Global Trade Tracker, Analytics, Country Level Tradeflows (accessed August 2024); Vortexa Energy Flows Analytics (accessed August 2024); U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Country Analysis Brief: Saudi Arabia,” October 11, 2023; U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Russia’s seaborne diesel trading partners shifted after Feb 2023 sanctions,” May 13, 2024.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics database (accessed August 2024).
- Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority, The Interconnection Project (accessed August 2024).
- Qatar New Agency, “GCC Summit: Gulf Electricity Interconnection Project Comes to Fruition,” December 4, 2023; Zawya, “Saudi Arabia announces official launch of Iraq powergrid project,” June 10, 2023; Rebecca Anne Proctor, Arab News, “Electrical transmission line connecting Afar in Saudi Arabia to Yusufiya in Iraq inaugurated,” June 25, 2023.
- Daily News Egypt, “Egypt, Saudi Arabia push ahead with electricity interconnector project,” August 20, 2024; Waya, “Egypt-Saudi Power Grid Link 60% Complete,” July 16, 2024; International Energy Agency, Egypt-Saudi electricity interconnection project (accessed August 2024).