Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, deputy minister of petroleum and mineral resources, chairman of the executive committee of the Saudi Center for Energy Efficiency, and honorary president of the Saudi Economic Association, has emphasized the importance of managing energy consumption in the Kingdom to curb its growth, SPA reported.
The minister made the call as he launched the first session of the 18th annual Economies of Energy meeting of the Saudi Economic Association, in Riyadh.
During the panel discussion on energy efficiency, he detailed the Kingdom's energy consumption growth.
He warned against further energy consumption growth if the great waste of energy consumption is not seriously curtailed.
Therefore, the consumption management of energy is a strategic necessity for the Kingdom, said Prince Abdulaziz. For this purpose, he highlighted the establishment of the Saudi Center for Energy Efficiency and its work.
He said he expects savings by one million and a half million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030 upon the completion of the implementation of all activities of the Saudi program for energy efficiency.
Saudi Arabia expects to save a fifth of its energy use by 2030 through an efficiency drive designed to prevent domestic consumption from eating up oil for export, said Prince Abdulaziz.
"Energy consumption is 4.2 million boepd (barrels of oil equivalent per day) currently and is expected to rise to more than 8 million boepd by 2030 if we don't work hard to limit the big waste," he said.
The energy efficiency drive will save about 20 percent of that projected consumption, or roughly 1.5 million boepd, said Prince Abdulaziz.
Saudi Arabia heavily subsidizes domestic fuel and utility costs, which encourages its growing population to consume more. This could ultimately interfere with oil supplies available for export.
"The real challenge is how we will achieve energy efficiency without changing the prices," he said.
Rules introduced in the last few years require homes and businesses to install insulation and tighten standards for air conditioners. A fuel efficiency standard for cars will be binding by January 2016.
Standard Chartered wrote in a research note on March 30 that it expected long-term investment in Saudi Arabia’s power system and alternative sources of energy to reduce the need for burning crude oil, Reuters said.
In the short term, however, there may be little impact, and high temperatures this summer, which will trigger massive demand for air conditioning, are expected as usual to boost Saudi Arabia's domestic oil use.
"In 2015 we expect the seasonal upswing in Saudi Arabia’s direct burn to perform the role of a market stabilizer, causing Saudi crude oil exports to fall back seasonally from their current high level," Standard Chartered wrote.
Kingdom expects to save fifth of its energy use by 2030
