It’s like Eskimos running out of ice: A recent report by Citigroup warns that Saudi Arabia — the world’s biggest crude exporter — may need to import oil by 2030.
How did Saudi Arabia allow its fortunes to slip, even as it supplies an eighth of the world’s oil and natural gas liquids? The country uses a quarter of its oil output domestically, and much of it is for power generation. Saudi power generating capacity has doubled in the past decade, partly because of the need for air conditioning, says a May 2012 story in The Economist. Aiding that consumption are high oil subsidies for Saudi power producers, which pay between $5 and $15 a barrel, compared to the export price of $116 for Brent oil in early September.
looking beyond borders 