Saudi Arabia Needs to Assess Oil Subsidies: Former Adviser

Bloomberg reported economist and energy consultant, Mohammad Al-Sabban, has said Saudi Arabia must review its $43B a year domestic subsidy bill.

As quoted in the market news:

“Reviewing fuel prices in Saudi Arabia is inevitable if not a priority,” Al-Sabban said Dec. 20 by e-mail from the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah. “Rapid growth in consumption is a real problem that can’t continue in any way. There is a general conviction on that on all levels in the kingdom.”

Three years after the Saudi government agreed with an initiative by the Group of 20 nations for inefficient fossil- fuel subsidies to be phased out, it has not yet announced plans to raise local fuel prices. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest consumer of oil per capita with 4.7 metric tons, or 35 barrels, a year, according to the International Energy Agency. “

Click here to read the full Bloomberg report.